Awoken Dragon
by Natsu is Awesome
Summary: Tatsumi couldn't believe that such a horrific world could exist. His finding of such deep rooted corruption in a place that seemed to be such a masterpiece... so no one else would fall to it's disguised cruelty; he joined the war to stop it. Finding himself reaching levels he didn't know existed. He found his true power. (Shout out to justaguy35 for helping make the summary.)
1. Prologue

**Just wanna say, I have no when I will ever update this story. I'm writing this due to the fact that I had a poll on my account with this winning the place of the next drabble I write. I'm putting this in a different story from "Drabbles Galore" because that one circles around Fairy Tail. In all honesty if I do update this fic it might just be another Akame Ga Kill drabble. Well, enough rambling, on to the story.**

 **One last thing. If you don't want to read slightly altered canon then after the 4th wall break skim through until Tatsumi tries out Spectator's abilities. That's when actual alteration happens.**

It had been a couple weeks since Zank the Executioner was killed by the glorious Capital Defense Force... Such was the lies spread by the corrupt and heinous higher-ups in the CDF.

It makes sense, would you want to give credit of killing a murderer to the group of people you're trying to make look like monsters who only seek ways to satiate their own bloodlust?

The group itself knew that would happen, but it didn't stop them from being annoyed. Their newest member was the only one to voice his complaints. A country hick by the name of Tatsumi, but he did have a right to be pissed. He did almost die trying to take that maniac down.

While he did complain, a couple of wise words from his senior assassins shut him right up.

But enough with the background explanations. Let's get to the reason the author is making this story.

It was almost 2 weeks since Tatsumi had been seriously injured by the aforementioned serial killer. Now he was near 100% and ready to get back to work. Leading him to be happy when the boss called for a meeting.

"Tatsumi, your wounds are pretty much healed right?" Najenda asked.

The entirety of the infamous assassination group known as Night Raid was amassed in this room. Eight people in total, collectively responsible for the murder of countless corrupt individuals in the Capital . What was important enough to gather the group? Let's find out.

"I want you to try the Teigu you got from Zank." She didn't even give Tatsumi the time to respond.

"W-w-w-w-w-what? You actually want me to use it? Wouldn't it be better if someone else took it?"

"The thing is, we can't, only one Teigu per person." his flowery aura appeared as Bulat spoke.

Tatsumi took a cautious step back.

At Tatsumi's questioning look Lubbock expanded on the oversimplified statement of the Pompadour styled man.

"Using a Teigu drains you mentally and physically. If someone were to use two then, asides from the high possibility of death. The user would be weaker then they were before until they gain control over both, and since we don't want to die and time is a luxury, you're our default choice." Lubbock ended his explanation with a thumbs-up and snarky grin.

Being chosen by default certainly killed Tatsumi's happy mood.

"Don't let the perv bring you down." Leone chimed in, grabbing Lubbock's thumb and twisting it till it nearly broke.

"You earned this thing. Ya killed a lot of bad people and nearly died in the process." Leone… encouraged? With her tone and smile it seemed like that, but her word choice certainly threw the Emerald eyed man for a loop.

"She's right, you are a good killer. If you are able to use this then you can help the cause even more then you already do." Akame reassured in her nearly always deadpan face.

"O-okay then." With that he grabbed the Teigu.

'It might not look the best, but the abilities it had were pretty useful.' Tatsumi thought.

When he put it on he expected more to it. All he really felt was a small weight that was sticking to his head.

"To be honest we don't know what abilities this Teigu might have, it wasn't catalogued in the book."

The fact that there was some book about Teigus flew over Tatsumi's head as he was trying to make Spectator do something.

"It was able to read minds, right? Then try it out on me." Akame offered to be his guinea pig, who was Tatsumi to refuse.

Concentrating as hard as he could, he said the first thing that popped into his head.

"You… want to eat meat right now!"

"Exactly, such amazing precision." Akame uttered.

"Please, anyone here could guess that right." Mine interrupted Tatsumi's happiness with cold hard facts.

"Since I don't want you to try to search around my head. Try to figure out how to use one of the other sights."

'Why does she always act like such a bitch?' Tatsumi thought to himself, he wouldn't dare say that out loud since he would rather not be a charred corpse.

'Okay, something, anything. Activate!' Tatsumi tried to connect to the eye by 'speaking' to it. And just as he was about to reprimand the stupid thought. Spectator opened and activated.

"Well, what do you see." Mine was curious as everyone else.

"Yellow." Tatsumi said, staring at the wall. He then turned to Mine. "Bright Pink."

"What do you actually see, don't be a smartass and just say colors."

He looked at her face. "Peach."

"Why you-" her no doubt soon to be violent outburst was stopped by a voice of reason.

"This could actually be one of Spectator's abilities." Najenda inputted.

"Seeing colors?!" Mine asked irritably.

"I actually don't get this either." Tatsumi conceded. Now seeing black when he turned to face his leader.

"Zank targeted Tatsumi as a victim, no? If he got close to him then Akame would have sensed him no doubt, but she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Meaning he had to have watched him from a distance. Maybe the sight that Tatsumi's currently using is letting him see things humans can only see with a scope or binoculars?"

"Okay, that's great and all, but how do I stop this?" Turning around to see if he could tell what anything was. Having such a magnified view in a room was not a good combination.

"Do the opposite of what you did to get there."

"Got it." He really didn't have the will to complain about such a, in his opinion, stupid set of instructions.

'How weak am I? I'm already struggling to keep my breath and I just started using this Teigu, maybe the next sight will be better.'

With that he tried to do what Najenda said. He clenched his eyes shut and focused. When he reopened them he was treated to a different view.

"Bro, why are you in your underwear?" During his gaze around the room he managed to stop turning right in front of the Hundred Man-Slayer: Bulat.

"What do you mean Tatsumi?" He motioned to his body. He still had all his clothes on. "I'm wearing what I always wear, or is that-"

Before Bulat could turn that into something sexual. Akame chimed in.

"When I fought Zank, he said something along the lines of me not having any hidden weapons. This sight might be what he used when he said that."

"That's an astute observation Akame." Najenda praised.

"Yeah, that is smart and all, but why are you keeping my head facing bro?" True to his words, since Akame started to speak she held his head in place. Keeping it from turning to her or the other girls behind him.

"That's simple, if you can see through clothes then you'll see us in our underwear." That opened up a can of worms.

"Damn it, you lucky bastard!" Lubbock roared.

"I KNEW YOU WERE A BUMPKIN, BUT A PERVERT TOO? LEONE, LET GO OF ME SO I CAN SHOOT HIM TO BITS. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER LUBBOCK HERE!" Mine raged, luckily for our protagonist he had was saved from peril thanks to the aid of Lionelle's user.

"Calm down, he didn't try to make this happen." Leone reasoned to the enraged rosette.

"Tatsumi's a pervert? But he was so nice and sweet to me when we were alone in the forest." Sheele remarked to herself.

"Aaaggghhh, the newbie just joined and he already scored!?" Lubbock made Sheele's bad statement even worse.

"SEE, HE'S A PERVERT, LET ME GO AND GIVE HIM WHAT HE DESERVES!" Sheele's words only added fuel to Mine's fire.

"This is Sheele we're talking about. Things are definitely lost in translation here. Plus Lubbock always thinks up perverted fantasies at every word."

"LOOK AT HIM, HE ISN'T EVEN DENYING WHAT HE DID!" Mine reeeeeaaaallly wanted Tatsumi dead.

Her words were true however, Tatsumi had yet to say anything about being able to see their underwear. Whether to freak out or freeze in shock. Any reaction would be normal for the naive boy.

Akame knew something was off. So she moved the brunette's head back enough for her to look at his face.

Her blood ran cold.

"The Teigu's rejecting him." The room immediately became serious as Bulat and Leone rushed to the two.

Without wasting a second, Akame removed the teigu immediately after she saw his face. It gave her chills thinking that her new friend might die. The blank look in his half lidded eyes. She couldn't get it out of her head.

When everyone saw that the now unconscious boy was alright. They had time to think while he rested.

"This doesn't make any sense. Teigu compatibility happens instantaneously when the powers are invoked. That means that Tatsumi was under the effect of rejection for a couple minutes and didn't die. How could that be possible." Lubbock said more to himself than the room.

As he looked around the room, his comrades seemed to be in their own little world.

Akame had her worrying deadpan face on.

Mine was toying with the fray of her dress.

Sheele was probably wondering what was wrong.

His dear sweet Najenda was taking anxious drags of her cigarette.

Leone looked like she really wanted something to drink.

It wasn't until Bulat spoke up a few minutes later that the tense attitude dissipated slightly.

"I think it means one thing, Tatsumi is a monster. Well, is going to be a monster."

"So you're saying that bumpkin is that powerful?" Mine could not believe that.

"Like I said, he might be rough around the edges, but with his ability to survive rejection for so long… He has immense potential. I have no doubt that he will be a key figure for the Revolution in battles to come."

"Well, even if your assumption is right, we don't have time for him to get that strong. Esdeath is in the North to take down Numa. That buys us a year. It's physically impossible for anyone to get close to her lifetime of strength in such a short amount of time." Lubbock stated, it was times like this he wished they had a Hyperbolic Time Chamber like they did in Dragon Ball Z. The bookstore owner couldn't help but sigh in sorrow.

"You have a point there, Lubbock." Najenda said. "But, you should know that the possible and impossible merge when Teigus are in play." She opened the Teigu book, how long she had it, the author didn't know.

It was lucky for her that Teigu were placed in alphabetical order, it only took her a few seconds to flip to what she was looking for. When she found it, she turned the book to the other Night Raiders to show what she landed on.

"Power Surging: Balzac?" Sheele read aloud in confused tone. "What does it do?"

"If you can read then just look lower." Mine said, use to her friend's airheadedness.

"When worn, Balzac can tap into the wearer's body and mind and unlock its potential by 100%, giving the wearer super speed, super strength, lightning-quick agility and unparalleled intelligence. After all of the wearer's potential is unlocked, it cannot exceed that person's limits." Najenda spoke, knowing the abilities of her ex-lieutenant's Teigu like the back of her hand.

"So you're saying that if this accepts Tatsumi that it's going to make all the years of training he needs to do, happen instantly?" Leone asked.

"When it accepts him, yes." Najenda knew Blazac would like Tatsumi, anyone with a plethora of untapped potential already had a good standing with it, but if their predictions were true. Tatsumi would become the strongest of them all whenever the mask was on. Ironically being the weakest when it was off.

"This is great, if we get this from wherever the Revolutionary army is keeping it then we could clean out the Capital quicker and easier." Lubbock was glad, this would mean less work being dropped in his lap.

"This is certainly a useful ability, but what is the drawback?" Akame knew no Teigu could be so powerful and not hold any repercussions.

"Well, it's quite simple really. If someone is stronger than you when you have the mask on, then you will most definitely lose." That was how her lieutenant gained the prefix ex- to his title. His unleashed potential was no match for the Empire's Strongest.

"That's it?" honestly Lubbock found the weakness to be underwhelming. "No "it destroys your body", or even a "The Teigu will try to take your soul?"" None of his imaginative worst case scenarios were even close to being that bland and simple.

"Does Crosstails have an extravagant weakness?" Lubbock winced at that remark. "I rest my case." Najenda took a drag of satisfaction at Lubbock's lose.

"Ssssssoooo, you should probably get to writing to home base about wanting to check out that Teigu, right?" As much as Leone loved to see Lubbock lose to the girl he holds dear, the quicker they received the Teigu and tested if it worked, the better.

"You're right," she moved to leave the room before she said bid farewell with a "Don't bother to cook dinner for me, it'll take all night to write a convincing piece for the higher ups to let go of this Teigu. Anyways, dismissed, enjoy your night." Having ending her goodnight, she proceeded in entering the maze like halls of Night Raid's base to reach her office and not leave until she was convinced they would obtain the mask.

 **Hmm, this doesn't really seem like a great place to end but this will compel me to want to write Tatsumi getting and testing out the teigu. If you enjoyed be sure to leave a review. Any questions feel free to PM me. Also, to any hardcore fans out there; I know Balzac is in Imperial hands, but for the sake of fanfiction. Let's just have Esdeath unable/uncaring to find it through the sea of blood and guts that were Najenda's men.**


	2. The Mask is Found

**Originally I just wanted to bring up the fact that I have a poll on my account, but I felt that just updating this to say that would be rather rude. So here I am with another chapter of Awoken Dragon. Hope you enjoy what I write and go over to vote on my poll to help decide what I'll write next.**

"Ugh, why do I feel like I got trampled on by a herd of Danger Beasts?" Were the first words spoken by our protagonist. He couldn't remember what had led him to this skull splitting pain, but it wasn't like he was currently in the best state of mind to try to remember his last conscious moments.

After he regained his senses, his training kicked in, he immediately surveyed his surroundings. Only to find out it wasn't necessary, he was safe and sound in his room back at the base.

"Well that's one thing less to worry about." His mind was clearing but he still was unable to understand how he got from in front of all his friends to face down on his bed. With that being a decent problem, he decided to leave the room to see if anyone was in the base. Maybe they could fill in the blanks.

He didn't need to go far, he soon found that most of the group was in the dining room. He nearly greeted them but stopped short. Everyone had a look of sadness and disbelief on their faces.

'Something's wrong.' Anyone who saw the room would have the same thought. 'But what, I don't see what it could...' his thought trailed off as he took notice of something.

"Where's Sheele?"

The fact that everyone was surprised to see him tipped him off the most. There was no way for highly trained assassins to not notice someone walk into the same room as them.

"Tatsumi." Najenda gently began.

"Where is she?" He didn't care that she was his superior. He needed to know where Sheele was.

"Just… come here and sit down first." Najenda said as she stood up and offered her chair to the rookie.

"What happened?" He didn't move.

'Sheele can't be dead.' They were assassins; death was in the job description, but for it to happen to someone Tatsumi cared about. His head swam and stomach dropped at the thought alone.

"Tatsumi." He rigidly moved to her. That worst case scenario running through his head thousands of times before he felt himself sit down.

"Just listen." No one in Night Raid was prepared for this, but how could they be?

She took a deep breath. "Thanks for this." With that she ran off as fast as she could for the exit.

Tatsumi couldn't keep the flabbergasted look off his face at what just occurred, he had expected his leader to give him some horrible news that would scar him and trigger character development. Not book it out of the room.

As he was going to chase after her the kitchen door opened.

"Tatsumi? Oh, wonderful, you woke up just in time. Wait, where'd the boss go?" Sheele said, carrying a platter with a lid.

"She's expecting the package to arrive by today so she wants to hurry and get it."

Sheele noded in understanding before turning towards Tatsumi.

His shock couldn't be more apparent if he tried.

"What? DId your face get stuck that way after Spectator rejected you?" Sheele wondered.

Silence.

"Hey, Bumpkin, when someone asks you something you answer them." Do I really need to say who this is?

Silence.

"Tatsumi?" Came from a concerned Bulat.

Once more he did nothing.

"Okay, now you're starting to freak me out. Stop it." Lubbock certainly didn't think that the circumstances were bad enough for him to freeze with that look on his face.

"Yo, Tatsumi, you in there?" Leone questioned as she poked him to spark a reaction.

Evidently poking someone in the eye does break them from a trance, as Leone found out.

"Ow. Wait, what just happened?" Tatsumi's brain needed a bit of time to reboot.

"What do you mean? Mine asked

"When I came in here you guys had a depressing look on your faces and you didn't even notice me until I spoke."

"Hey Sheele, did you remember to turn off the stove?" Akame asked, ignoring the boy.

"I think so."

 ***Poof***

"..."

"... I'll put that out right now." Sheele said as she put the platter on the table and went back in the kitchen.

When she was out of earshot Akame answered his question. "We were like that since we only have dishes like this to eat for the day." Pulling the lid slightly off the tray. Akame exposed Sheele's food.

The smell hit Tatsumi like a horse as he almost retched. It was even bad enough for his eyes to start watering.

"Wait, so this was it?" Tatsumi asked as he opened a window to air out the stench.

"Yes. This is a fate that I would only wish against the Prime Minister himself." Akame stated with utmost seriousness.

"So no one got killed or maimed?"

"What, no, you think that just because you get put on the bench for a week that we'd fall to pieces!?" Mine raged.

"No, of course not, it's just- Wait a week!?" He thought that the ordeal with Spectator happened yesterday night. What was this shit about a week.

"Yeah, you've been unconscious for around 7 and a half days since rejection." Bulat told him.

"What do you mean about rejection." He had so many questions!

"Oh right, we haven't explained that to you yet, well you see."

While Tatsumi is being told everything that everyone reading already knows, let's go see how Sheele is doing putting out that fire.

"Let's see what we have here." Sheele told herself as she read the instructions on the fire extinguisher she put on the counter a few feet from the smallish fire.

"Stand upright." She looked at herself. "Done"

"Remove safety pin." Removed.

"Aim nozzle at base of fire." She grabbed the tube and pointed it towards the fire.

 ***Poof***

The top of the extinguisher caught on fire.

"Well..." She grabbed the base of the extinguisher "I'll just put this right here. With the rest of the fire." Placing it down on the floor next to the oven.

Now back to the rest of Night Raid. Minus Akame and Mine who have left to check an informant about a possible target. Not because the author didn't know how to put them into the conversation about to happen.

"So I survived something that should have killed me in a few seconds, for a few minutes?" Tatsumi honestly didn't think himself capable of doing so.

"Yup, and because of that the boss even stayed up all night trying to get you a present for it." Leone chimed.

"Present? What do you mean?"

"She means Najenda spent her precious time just so you could get a- OWOWOWOWOWOW! okay I won't tell him. Just let go of my fingers." Lubbock pleaded. Leone held it them in her grip a little longer before she did as he asked.

"Well, did anything important happen while I was sleeping." Since Tatsumi figured that he wouldn't get a hint on what the boss did for him. He thought that he'd ask what happened during his comatose state.

"Well asides from being unable to do a mission from lack of manpower. Everything went like it always does." Bulat answered.

"Oh, I hope it wasn't anyone to important." He didn't want a target to be able to flee due to him.

"Don't worry about it. Me and Akame took him out the next day since he always stays in his brothel." Leone input.

"Well, that's great news to hear."

"Yeah, but it was a pain, the last mission had me evade a crazy girl and this one had me crawl in ducts till we found the target."

"What was that?"

"Me and Akame had to squeeze our way through the ceiling only to have the guy protected by a couple dozen hired-"

"You know I don't mean that."

"Party pooper." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well since you were out of it Najenda thought it'd be good to add me to Mine and Sheele's target. It went fine, the guy kept moving rooms and Mine got a clean unnoticed shot."

Tatsumi motioned for her to continue.

"On the way back to the base I figured that since I didn't do much, I should keep lookout, so I kept Lionelle active. Turns out it was smart since I heard a girl chattering to something called Koro about killing us."

"Isn't that normal for the guards who think they can 'stop our evil'?" The Capital had loads of propaganda against the revolutionary army. The focal point in the capital being Night Raid were monsters killing for fun blah-blah-blah, the usual.

"Yeah, but this girl was a grade A psycho. She kept talking about how she'd dismember us like we did to Captain Ogre and feed it to Koro in the name of 'Justice'." Tatsumi's face showed what he thought about that.

"Needless to say we changed routes."

"Well then, good thing you were with them."

"That's what I said."

"Hey guys, shouldn't Sheele have come out by now?" Lubbock asked.

"Yeah, but you know her, she probably got stuck in the pantry."

XXX

"Fire uses the air as a source of fuel. Should this source be exhausted then the flame can suffocate and die out." Sheele read aloud. "So by that logic," she closed her book. "If I cover the fire then I can put it out." With that in mind she firmly grasped both sides of her book and pushed it to the base of the small stove fire. Needless to say that plan didn't work and she made the fire bigger.

"Hmm, maybe it wasn't big enough." With that in mind she looked around to find something to suffocate the flame. Her options were between using the sink to get water, calling the other's for help, using wooden plates, metal cooking equipment, and turning off the still on stove.

Let's find out what she picks next time we pop in on her.

XXX

"Yeah, you're probably right." Conceded Lubbock.

"So when should the Boss be getting back?" Tatsumi couldn't hold his curiosity at what his present might be.

"Well it should be a few more hours since she needs to wait for the spies to deliver it."

"What should we do while we wait?"

"Why wait when we can skip to that point?" Leone asked.

"What do you-"

XXX

The day had come and gone as the sky was transforming into its orange hue. Tatsumi and Bulat decided to train the day away as Leone and Lubbock went to pick up a shipment of manga for Lubbock's store/hidden Night Raid hideout.

"Wow, that was some good training. You're definitely getting better, Tatsumi." Bulat praised.

"Thanks Bro, but I actually don't remember how we got here. Or doing any training."

"That tends to happen when someone does something offscreen."

"What?"

"Look the boss is back." True to his words, Najenda had arrived just as they were leaving the Training Grounds.

"There you two are, just the duo I needed to see." Najenda greeted, holding an object wrapped in a cloth under her arm.

"Why would that be?" Bulat said with a raised brow.

"I need you two to fight." She moved the wrapped object and handed it to Tatsumi. "While you wear that." She directed at Tatsumi.

"I've been wondering what it was that everyone was hinting at." Tatsumi couldn't hold back his smile as he unwrapped the object.

When he saw what it was, he wasn't necessarily overjoyed or disheartened by what he saw.

It was a mask. Bizarre, but a mask nonetheless. It seemed somewhat tribal, with lines going down the forehead to the brow and closing in to the bridge of the nose. Between the lines rested two dots on the center of the forehead; the smaller one being above its bigger counterpart. The eye sockets were tinted slightly yellow with only a cross going over each eye allowing vision. From the nose to the chin it had a decent protrusion which allowed people with varying features to wear it. The cheeks had lines arcing from the top to the bottom. And the mouth was a swollen green circle going farther than the nose and the chin. Having an empty slot in the center that let the wearer breath.

It was strange, the longer Tatsumi stared at the mask the more entrance he became. He didn't know why. He just felt something surge within himself when he caressed it.

"-mi, Tatsumi!" Bulat called, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to shake him out of his fugue state.

"What?" The boy in question had no idea why he was being shook and shouted at. He was just looking at the object in his hand.

"You haven't blinked for a couple minutes there. You okay?"

"Y-yeah, never better." His gaze moved back to the mask.

"I assume you know what that is." Najenda said, waving to the mask fit for a clown.

"I'm pretty sure."

"Then let's see how compatible you are."

With a nod, Tatsumi placed the mask against his face.

Everyone within a mile of the base could hear the gut wrenching screams.

 **There you have it. And to all you readers, did you really think that I'd kill Sheele offscreen like that? Also, anyone get the 'IT Crowd' reference?**

 **Next chapter is gonna have Tatsumi test out the limits he has by competing with Bulat.**

 **Side note: Do you guys like my 4th wall breaking? If you do or don't be sure to tell me in a review so I can see what is good and what I should avoid.**


	3. Training

**Damn guys (and girls), only 2 chapters in and already this story has more Favorites and Follows then my Fairy Tail one. Which I've had up for around half a year… guess people want a linear plot compared to snippets and pieces of random stories that have no correlation. So thanks for joining this story and I hope you enjoy what I write.**

 **FanFictionHunter** : You can't tell me what to do *smashed button labeled DP* "We're sorry the number you are calling is currently unavailable." Damn it.

 **DPSS** : Never!

 **HaruhismFollower** : I'm _really_ impatient. Not sure that'll happen, after all, a wise man once said: "Don't stick your dick in crazy." And lastly Tatsumi's power would be no fun if he didn't earn it.

 **WildCard555** : Yay someone understands it! For the tone I think that this'll definitely be lighter. I'm to much of a bitch to kill off people I like. Hurting them though, that _might_ be a different story.

 **XxXxXxXx**

The pain had disappeared when Tatsumi opened his eyes, but it most definitely would have left any being a shadow of their former selves. Such is why Balzac took action to save its new wielder.

Tatsumi looked down as he felt his body being constricted. What he saw shocked him.

The ground was much further away then before. Accompanied by the fact that his shirt was now so tight that it felt like it was trying to squeeze him to death. It was normal for people to wonder why that happened… but Tatsumi was currently far from normal. The normal Tatsumi would be surprised and ask what was going on, but now that he was unleashed he could understand what happened the moment he saw it.

The reason was simple. It was the effect of Balzac's power. The change was tactical, he would never be able to hold all of his strength within his normal body for even one second. Leading his body to shift into a better state.

All in all, the changes weren't that major. While he was roughly a head taller, his muscle mass had stayed lean and compact; as opposed to the burly giant physique most think of when brute strength is brought up. Luckily for him his pants were reaching his mid-calf and didn't seem to constrict his movement, that would have been pretty awkward for his pants to break off in front of his boss and gay 'brother'. Unluckily however, his shirt had broken at the sleeves and chest, resulting in him having to remove it. Making him inadvertently show off his newly acquired and toned muscles to the two watching him.

While Bulat watched the changed boy in shock, Najenda smirked. Her prediction was proven right without a hitch. Though she was surprised, the archived information about Balzac only said activation resulted in a change of personality rather than appearance. Leading the Platinum Blonde to theorize that the greenhorn might have an even greater link to the Teigu than any prior users.

As she saw her newest recruit remove his shirt and stretch his new muscles; she tossed a training sword at him with her metal arm.

One arm snapped out and caught the giant weighted blade with ease. The arm staying steady as a rock.

"So this is what I'm gonna use?" Tatsumi's voice sounded slightly gruffer when he spoke.

"Well I have to give Bulat some handicap if he's fighting without Incursio on." She didn't want the brunette to accidently kill his friend due to his inability to control his strength.

"Got it." With that Tatsumi walked to the opposite side of the grounds, turning to face Bulat's side.

"You ready, Bro?" Bulat could feel the excitement rolling off Tatsumi at the prospect of seeing what he could do now.

To answer he grasped his staff firmly and entered his stance.

"Try not to blink." To any ordinary man, the masked assassin would have seemed to disappear. But to someone who trained as a soldier and assassin, Bulat knew speed was only a problem if he relied on sight.

The impact of their weapons held enough force to create a gust of wind that spread throughout the grounds.

Just as Bulat started to move to attack, Tatsumi 'vanished' once more.

The first 15 seconds of battle seemed to consist of Bulat barely managing to stop dangerous strikes from hitting. He knew what Tatsumi was doing. He was trying to get a read on Bulat's style and aim for potential blind-spots or openings, but battling a hardened veteran left those far and few.

As the 30th overhead strike was stopped, Tatsumi did something Bulat didn't expect. He let go of the sword.

With the added weight against his staff he was unable to move quick enough to evade the jab to his side. He was sent back a few feet from the blow, the air being knocked from his lungs.

'He made his own opening. Normally it'd be a suicidal tactic to drop your weapon to do that, but his punch felt like it could break my ribs if he wanted.' Bulat thought, he understood the reasoning, it slowed him down for the fraction of the second it'd take to deliver a killing blow.

"Well, you certainly are powerful. In fact, if you didn't pull your punch then you probably could have gored me."

"Of course I'm not hitting you full force, you're not someone I want to kill." Tatsumi admitted.

"I know, but now that you lost your weapon you deal with the consequences." The training sword was in Najenda's grasp as she let Bulat teach the rookie as he see fit. "You have superhuman abilities but you aren't invulnerable, now that you're unarmed, try to see if you can disarm your opponent or use your surroundings to your advantage."

As Bulat ended his sentence Tatsumi already knew the area around him could not be of any use, it was completely barren of anything except dirt and grass.

'So what can I do to make him drop his staff?' That thought rattled in Tatsumi's head as he never let his eyes leave Bulat.

He rattled his brain but it seems that while his physical and observational skills in battle were dramatically increased, he still didn't really have a thought process to make good strategies.

So while unknowingly admitting he wasn't the sharpest tool in the lunged and grabbed the staff with both hands, yanking as hard as he could, breaking the center portion and leaving Bulat with two somewhat small batons.

Jumping back as soon as he heard the wood snap, Bulat was caught off guard at the run-and-gun offensive.

"Was that good? I know there wasn't much finesse to it, but I did disarm you."

"It's fine for now, but that tactic depends on knowing your opponent and the abilities of their weapon." Bulat instructed his student. "You'd have been challenged if my staff was metal or if I had a sword. That doesn't even bring up if the person used a teigu."

"Hey Bulat, give it a rest for today, night's already about to set in." True to her word the orange in the sky was waning to the darkness. The light leaving with it. 'Plus I want to see how he'll deal with _that_.' Najenda snickered to herself.

"Yeah, we'll pick this up tomorrow." Bulat agreed "Maybe Akame or Leone can give you some tips on how to more effectively use your abilities."

"Okay, I'll be sure to ask them." With that Tatsumi removed the mask.

 **GGGGGGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUUUU-**

Tatsumi immediately fell to his knees and cupped his stomach.

"Good fucking god, I've never been this hungry." Tatsumi groaned out.

"I knew that you might need to eat more but I never thought it'd be this much of a change." Najenda admitted.

"Huh, I thought he'd just be tired from using a teigu for the first time, but it makes sense. He did use up a lot more energy today by fighting with his full power then ever before." With that realization Bulat walked over to help his pupil and called to the only Night Raid member still residing in the base, sans present company.

"Sheele!" A head popped out of the window a few floors above them. "Mind making something for Tatsumi while I get him up to the kitchen!" If Bulat had looked to her while speaking he would have seen smoke pouring from the window and ash all over Sheele's face.

Sheele looked behind her to the smores she was making over the now moderately sized fire. She figured if that growl was Tatsumi's stomach that he wouldn't mind eating the 15 burned smores… and the 20 burned hotdogs… and the venison that looked like it might be a stone. "Of course I don't, just get him here and I'll make him some more!"

With that Sheele went to work cooking for her friend… but that'd be hard since the wooden cutlery was indisposed of at the moment… it was in the fire. "I wonder if we have chips." With that Sheele moved into the pantry and slammed the door behind her, causing a precariously stacked column of pots and pans to fall onto the board used for locking the pantry. Making that lock Sheele inside.

As she listened to the clatter behind her she pushed against the door when she heard the wood slam. "Looks like I'm stuck in here. Wait, what was I gonna grab anyways?" As her airheaded tendencies came back Sheele forgot that she was looking for something quick Tatsumi could eat. "Hey look at that, we have chips." Since she felt peckish she didn't that anyone would mind her eating just one or twenty chips.

XxXxXxXx

When Sheele got out she was elated to see that Tatsumi had eaten all the food she had prepared and that Bulat put out the fire.

Though that elation left when she was punched in the head by Najenda's mechanical arm as punishment for not stopping the fire, or even asking for help with it. They were really lucky that their base was made of stone.

After stuffing his face until he literally couldn't eat anymore, Tatsumi felt _ssssssoooooo_ much better.

While he was in this state Akame and Mine came back from their trip and went straight to the boss, apparently they learned something big from their informant.

But that could wait for tomorrow, Tatsumi was to sleepy from fighting and eating to open his eyes after his last bite. And they wouldn't care if he just took a nap for a few minutes.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Yeah, sorry for this chapter taking so long, I had more then half of this finished last month around the 27th but I could not bring myself to write anything.**

 **The two I talk about this story with should know what that info leads to and who Night Raid is gonna kill next.**

 **Hope you enjoy the comment answering.**

 **Have an awesome day. -N.I.A**


	4. The Three Beasts

**NinjaFang1331** and **Princess Bloodina Carnage** : Thank you

 **WildCard555:** He went back to being normal. Forgot to address it last chapter.

 **Guest(1 ,2, & 3):** While he does have power he still has to learn how to properly use it.

What was paragraph 2.

I'm not good at pairs so I'm not sure if I'll do more then just put Tatsu in cute situations with them.

And I have no idea what message 2 and 3 meant.

 **HaruhismFollower:** It's not a timer, think of it more like Murasame, Akame can hold it, but unless she uses it then it doesn't take her energy/concentration. As long as Tatsumi doesn't do anything that is out of the limits of his normal body, then there is no reason he should get tired. (I know what enemy you're talking about, just wait, she'll make her entrance soon)

Only time will tell… as well as my attention span in writing.

Thank you.

 **XxXxXxXx**

Have any of you ever woken up to the unblinking red eyes of an Assassin that seems to stare into your soul? Let me tell you, not a nice wake-up call.

As soon as Tatsumi stopped screaming he saw that something was different.

The sky was vibrant blue instead of the normal black of night. He had to have slept for over 10 hours, judging by where the sun was currently positioned.

"Hope you slept well. We need to convene at once." A pause. "After you wipe your face, but be sure to hurry." With that, Akame left.

After finding a mirror, blushing when he saw his face was covered in dry drool, burnt crumbs, and things of the sort, Tatsumi cleaned up and hoped it wasn't anything to important he was postponing.

XXX

"Esdeath has returned from the North after conquering their rebellion."

Apparently it was _very_ important. According to the faces the veteran Night Raid members made.

"On the upside though, her army has been ordered to stay in the North and keep watch so another uprising doesn't happen."

"So she wasn't brought back to deal with the Revolutionary army?" Bulat asked.

"Not that we know of, it seems that since her return she's been busy in the government torture chambers." Najenda took a drag from her cigarette. "Leone, you are to go to the capital and watch her. Be sure to stay on guard, run at the slightest sign of her awareness to you." Najenda warned, she had already lost so much to that woman, she didn't want to lose anything else.

"Got it, boss." Leone still held that snarky grin on her face while on the inside she was wondering just how bad this woman was.

"There is one more matter we need to discuss." Najenda pulled out a flyer from within her jacket pocket. "Someone has been committing a string of murders under our name. " The paper had Night Raid's logo with the message 'Heaven's Judgement, Delivered by Night Raid'.

"So why are we dealing with them? Our big fish are in the capital, the main base can send someone to deal with them." Mine questioned.

"The reason is because all the targets are civil officials. The current count is four officials and sixty-one bodyguards. Now if these killers were normal they'd have been killed from the increased security that the officials had hired after they heard of the other's death. But they were able to dispose of thirty highly trained guards in their last attempt. Causing people to truly believe that we are the ones responsible for this crime."

"So these killer's are teigu users as well." Akame realised.

Najenda only lit another smoke. "These killings are all against people who would see this Empire return to it's past glory. That means that the Prime Minister is orchestrating these murders and pinning them on us."

"I know this is stupid to ask, but you know that there's another possible reason they're doing this, right?" At the curious look from his little brother, Bulat said what they all thought this could be. "Maybe they want to set up a trap for us."

"I know that that is a great risk, but people like those officials will be needed for the new Empire to thrive and prosper. We must have the decency they held so we don't revert to how we are now. As such we cannot let these murderers continue their spree and protect those that seek to make the Empire prosperous and kind."

Najenda gazed at all of them. "Is there anyone who wishes to share their opinion?"

"Really?" Her gaze locked with his. "You know our answer better than anyone else." A smile arose on both of their faces. "So let's go and save the people who'll protect the future from tyranny!" Tatsumi finished with a boom in his voice.

The room was filled with smiles and nods as everyone present shared the opinion of the emerald eyed boy.

"So it's decided, let's teach those who'd destroy the future for the people a few lessons." Najenda stood and donned her coat as she looked towards her team. "There are 5 officials in the Capital who are possible targets. Of those five, only three are leaving the capital, giving ample opportunity for these frauds to attack."

Najenda looked to her right. "Akame and Lubbock, you are to go to Mura village to the East of the Capital."

She looked to her left. "Bulat and Tatsumi, you are going to the massive cruiseliner; Ryuusen."

Finally she stared ahead. "Mine and Sheele, you are going to Doko village to the Northwest."

With looks of confirmation from everyone, they all set out to their destination.

XXX

As Tatsumi was standing agasp at the ship, he could only think that massive was an understatement.

'That thing's as big as Shikoutaze-i- I mean a mountain.'

"That is pretty big." Bulat commented, appearing as empty space due to his invisibility being active. "Wonder how the wood feels, it's gotta be a pain maintaining such a big item, but I hope they keep it nice and smooth."

Tatsumi started to walk on the boat and repress the perverted comment from his Bro. 'He's been spending way to much time with Leone.'

Unknown to the duo, there was a quartet casually moving behind them. Three wearing cloaks, completely inconspicuous due to the dark clouds visible on the horizon. The other was walking in plain sight, but unable to be seen by anyone. Using her power to make anyone who looked in her vicinity only see what was in that direction.

Complex and annoying to do, but effective. And she relished the challenge to expand her control on her abilities. Plus she wanted to see if she might have some fun doing things humans normally do. Her usual motif was becoming a bore. Even if this was even more mind numbingly boring then her usual activities. It might make her find more joy in them when comparing it to this.

XXX

The ship had taken off and was sailing smoothly. Passengers all around him were getting drunk and chowing down. Yet Tatsumi was just staring out at the water, thinking of what Bulat had told him when they were still docked. About his past and why he joined the Revolution. This just increased the hatred he felt to this city, it was nothing more then a cesspool of disgusting people doing horrible things to people who couldn't stop them.

As he moved to get some water, he heard something. A nice, melodious tune. Though as he heard this his will was being drained. He felt as though everything was pointless and he should just stay down.

"Fight through this." He told himself. Fumbling to pull the mask from his inner coat pocket.

He had just managed to grip the mask when he heard a voice behind him. "Ah, someone's still awake? Sucks for you, we can't have any witnesses." The voice belonged to a behemoth of a man. He was a taller than Tatsumi was even with the mask on, if only by a few inches. His muscles could be seen pushing against his dress shirt and coat. And his eye seemed vacant of anything except pure white sclera.

"So you're part of those fuckers messing with our name?" Tatsumi was still gasping for breath but it seemed as though that draining music had subsided.

"Oh? So do you mean you're the real deal." The man's smile grew as he grabbed a sheathed sword from a nearby guard and tossed to the boy.

As Tatsumi let go of Balzac and caught the blade he still had to question why this man was giving him a fighting chance.

"That's simple, I just want to get the most experience from this mission so I can become the strongest." His bloodlust was seeping into the air. "Should be clear to fight here, everyone's out of commision so nobody can bother us."

Tatsumi said nothing as he unsheathed his blade. 'Akame thought that these guys had teigu, so I gotta make him to use it first. Then I'll be able to surprise him with mine.'

The air was tense as neither moved. It was only a brief moment however as the man was to impatient to wait any long. As such Tatsumi ran to meet him halfway.

His face twisted into an insane grin as he brought his double-sided axe up for an overhead swing. "Excellent. I'm sure you'll give me lots of experience."

From the look of the axe and the bravado in his voice, Tatsumi knew to evade the hit. It turns out jumping away was the good move as the floor where the axe struck nearly collapsed.

'That would have turned me into mush.' Tatsumi stared at the man's weapon with wide eyes.

"Seems like I was right, I might actually have to try." With that the man grabbed to handles from between the blades and pulled. The axe split in two and was chucked at Tatsumi with the power of an Earth Dragon.

"Shit." Tatsumi swore as he evaded one only for it to spin back towards him and cut him. Luckily his reflexes were on their way to recovery as the axe was deftly evaded.

But in his fear of one weapon he lost sight of the other.

He only had the sound of the whipping air to warn him as he spun and placed his sword up to block or parry the blow. Only for the axe to blow past the sword. Leaving a gash on his arm.

He turned to follow the axe and saw the other one coming in for a second hit.

To not let history repeat, Tatsumi ran towards the weapon and slid underneath it at the last moment. In its journey to hit its target the axe quickly righted its course and once more followed Tatsumi.

"Let's see if your blades can hit you instead of me!" Tatsumi shouted as he ran towards the imposter. Dropping his sword and ripping the mask from his pocket when they were ten feet apart.

It was strange, everything seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time. With the mask on, Tatsumi noticed the second axe blade flying above him. Aimed at the white-eyed man. So his foe could not continue with his plan and regain his weapon, Tatsumi jumped above him and grabbed the hilt mid-air. The force of the blade only being slightly less than the amount behind Tatsumi's jump. Allowing him to still go forward.

Daidara could only look in surprise as the runt took out a teigu and threw a wrench into his plans.

As he turned to face the kid he shot a hand out for his axe to land in.

Both opponents stood armed with the same weapon, ready to kill the other without a second thought.

If Tatsumi didn't have his mask on he wouldn't notice what was going to happen.

"Took you long enough." Before Daidara could ask what the kid was spouting. He had a spear shoved through his chest from behind.

"Subtly activating Incursio is pretty damn near impossible, and no thank you for taking care of him?" Bulat asked as he disengaged his invisibility and removed Neuntote from the dead man's chest.

"I coulda taken him out and you know it." Grabbing the other side of the axe from the floor, Tatsumi let the parts reform into one.

"Still a big brother should protect his family." If the situation was in a secure area, Bulat would have started to comb his hair.

"Yeah, yeah, you've been reading to much Blea-" Before he could finish a tendril of water tried to impale Balzac's user. It was for naught however as Tatsumi blocked with the axe's blade. The teigu being made for battle ensured that the metal could not be destroyed that easily.

"Seems like we got company." With that remark an old man with a ponytail came out of the shadows alongside what looked like a child who had cat like eyes and demon tail and horns. They both wore the same outfit the brute from earlier did. "So you guys have a dress code?" Tatsumi questioned.

Without dignifying him with a response, the child just looked at the corpse at their feet. "Really? Damn, I thought you could at least stay alive until we got here." He looked at the two. "Good that you at left his face intact though. Now I can add it to my collection."

"So you wanna beat the elderly or the youth?" Bulat asked his masked compatriot.

"Either's good."

Having enough of the duo's bickering, the old man waved his ringed hand forward. Barrels of water exploded outward to quickly destroy the two.

Bulat quickly dispersed the water as he spun his spear to act as a shield.

"Guess that the cat… demon… thing is my opponent then." Tatsumi knew Bulat's weapon gave him a better standing in fighting this opponent. After actually looking at the boy… girl… it, Tatsumi noticed something.'They have a recorder. He must be the one who put this ship to sleep.'

At the sight of his enemy trying to place the instrument in his mouth. Tatsumi split the axe in his hand and threw it with all his might.

If the material was any weaker then Nyau would have been cleaved in half. Luckily for him his recorder was as strong as the best swords in the capital. So his life was saved, but it cost him dearly. His teigu had an axe lodged into it, meaning that even if he could lift it that the sound would be different and that the teigu's power would be as strong as an average flute.

Nyau could only look at his hands in shock. Unable to see the other axe aimed at him.

With a whir of a blender, Nyau's head was puréed. Poetically destroying his, in his eyes, beautiful visage.

As the axe returned from the shadows of the boat's interior, it seemed to be faster than before. Yet it still wasn't a danger as, to Tatsumi, the spinning was as fast as a pinwheel in a light breeze.

Grabbing the weapon with his right arm, he noticed that the injury this weapon gave him earlier had already healed, granted the wound was shallow, but it's not like it could just disappear.

Filing that under questions to ask Najenda about later. Tatsumi stared at the weapon, he saw no blood and that it seemed to be colder. He knew the blood had just slid off of the blade due to it's high speed spinning. But the return speed and temperature were strange. 'Probably the teigu not liking me.' Was what he chalked this strange occurrence to be.

Looking back to where Bulat's battle was going on, Tatsumi saw that they were addressing each other. Apparently this man was Bulat's old General. It was funny, the man's imprisonment was what made Bulat join the Revolution but it made River even more dedicated to the Empire, well, Esdeath, but she's a big part of the Empire.

Tatsumi hated himself in the one fact that he had no way to help his Bro. Without the right weapon Tatsumi would just end up getting hurt, and since Bulat would dive in to save him. He'd take the damage for him.

So he could only watch with clenched fists and teeth at the battle before him. Flinching every time his friend got hurt. Wait for the one moment where he could land an attack and end their enemy's life.

As luck would have it. Tatsumi wasn't needed. Through all the blood, sweat, and pain, Bulat managed to surprise River and bisect him from his head to his groin when he stupidly let his guard down.

Bulat was gasping when Tatsumi reached him. Both from asphyxiation and exhaustion, he was so badly hurt when he defeated his enemy that Incursio was falling to pieces. As he sealed his armor, Bulat was given a shoulder to lean on. Turning to his left he saw the man who had taken out two out of three of Esdeath's special unit. He couldn't help but let out a wry laugh. This was the first mission he and Tatsumi took together, and yet he was the one hurting rather then the new recruit.

At the sound of his brother's laughter Tatsumi started to smile as well. They had taken down the copy cats and both survived. He was nearly crying in joy.

Then a sound deafened everything else. It was as if thousands of glass panes were shattering all at once.

"Hahahahaha, bravo." The cheer came from within the ship, footsteps seeming to slam when the person was walking normally.

"You managed to defeat all of my watchdogs." A cruel smile was placed upon her face. "Now let's see how you fare against their master." Esdeath shouted with glee.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Yeah, I did that. For those wondering how she got on board, since she has ice I just used refraction/reflection in a space around her to so everyone seeing that area would see what's normally there instead of her. While annoying to make, it makes her 'invisible' for as long as she keeps it from melting. And aside from the space and temp. issue, she's completely hidden.**

 **So tell me what you thought about this chapter. I think that this is my best fight scene yet.**

 **(But you've only wrote about 3 in total.)**

 **Shut up, voice in my head, point is I hope you guys liked the fight.**

 **Have an Awesome day: N.I.A.**

 **PS: This is the biggest chapter I've written for anything so far.**


	5. The True Awakening

**FanFictionHunter:** Somebody get's it. :D

 **NinjaFang1331/Dragon Mistress Syal** : Just the reactions I was looking for.

 **WildCard555:** Yes… No… Maybe….. " **The author still hasn't decided."**

 **HaruhismFollwer:** Yeah, I think Daidara just got the short straw when picking superpowered weapons.

Internet cookie, YAY! *Nom*

Oh sure, you'll totally be first. Yeah, and I'm a park ranger. " **That sounds nice"**

 **Side note: This was f*cking difficult to write. You know how you have something planned perfectly in your head and yet you can't make it appear in the real world. That's how this felt.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

The masked man seemed to be powerful.

When she felt his power suddenly appear out of nowhere, she had to stop herself from running and spoiling the fun. She knew Daidara wouldn't be able to defeat him, nor Nyau, but she did have high hopes for Liver to deal damage, possibly even killing the man with his last resort move. Shame he never got to use it, she created the poison herself.

Yet she saw her strongest subordinate didn't leave without making a mark. The weaker of the two was heavily injured.

If she got her hands on him, oh the information they could receive. And she could feel her knees shake at just the thought of breaking the masked one.

With a gleeful smile on her face, Esdeath swung her hand and instantly fired dozens of ice spears.

Her smile grew as the brunette avoided each and every shard by mere centimeters. Dragging his injured comrade out of the way from the few projectiles sent towards the lesser threat.

She could have easily just trapped them in a block of ice, yet she knew the odds of them staying alive long enough for her to have her fun with them would be slim. So Esdeath decided she would have her fun here and now.

A few properly aimed projectiles later and the 100-Man-Slayer was separated from her true target.

That's when everything was put into play.

Her spears drastically increased in speed. As he was being pushed he finally started to fight back as he used Belvaac to smash or alter the course of her projectiles. Either of the new responses added to the growing layer of frost at his feet.

Her patience was quickly diminishing as shown by her creating even more spears, surrounding him from all sides.

Tatsumi was pushed close to his limit as he was unendingly being attacked from all directions, resorting to sheer force to deal with a majority of the spears. Yet this tactic definitely wasn't foolproof as his arms would deal with the shards left flying towards his person. They probably would have lost feeling already if the light wounds didn't disappear as fast as they formed.

He knew this battle wasn't even fit enough to be called such, but if he could keep her distracted long enough then maybe one of them would escape.

What happened next surprised Tatsumi.

Everything stopped. Her artillery had ceased and she just looked at his gasping form, not showing any fatigue after using her power for so long. As he looked at her, their eyes locked, Tatsumi knew then and there that he should run. Her eyes weren't human, no human would ever be able to hold that horrific aura just beneath the surface of their skin. Not unless they didn't possess a soul.

Her tried to jump back, gain the pointless distance that would only make him feel safer, yet his feet didn't move. His gaze lowered and he saw his feet were attached to the floor, completely encased in ice.

Her realized his mistake a fraction of second to late as when his eyes returned to her, a thin shard of ice was millimeters from his left eye.

It was a tremendous show of power that Tatsumi actually managed to avoid being blinded by the shard, yet it was impossible to receive no damage from such a move. So as he was still able to keep his sight, the shard sliced through the eye guard and left side of the mask. Leaving a centimeter wide line from his eye to just below his temple.

His body started to morph, just as when he first donned his Teigu, yet here the mind shattering pain that came from the complete alteration of his body didn't stop. As his mind could only focus on the pain. His body screamed on its own as he morphed from his original body to his empowered body. Destroying everything near him as he started writhing on the floor.

"Shit!" while Bulat had been somewhat ignored by the Empire's Strongest, he was still given enough attention that his damaged body barely made its way out of Esdeath's ice creations. Though seeing his friend being in such pain made him make one simple mistake. He turned his back to his enemy.

He immediately knew the error in his movement, but it was to late as a shard struck him directly between his shoulderblades. Breaking through Incursio's case like wet paper. Yet the blade was a different story.

If it had hit anywhere else then the sword would have barely gotten a scratch. But it hit the weakest spot on the blade. The jewel located dead center of the guard.

The gem might have seemed like it held no value to the weapon, but that only applied to conventional weapons. And Teigu were far from conventional.

As he landed on the floor, Bulat immediately pushed himself up and rushed to his friend. Grabbed the axe Teigu and slammed it with all his strength against the floor.

The wood broke instantaneously and sent the Night Raid members falling to the lower floor.

Esdeath took her sweet time walking to the newly made hole. She peered into the pit to see her prey had moved to somewhere else. Where was easily discernible by her marvelous senses, but she hadn't played a good game of cat-and-mouse in a while.

As she felt rain starting to fall, Esdeath waited for it to increase slightly before she decided to put in a fail-safe. With a * **Snap** * the entire ship was surrounded by ice, she made the intricate cruiseliner into a simple snow globe.

As she landed a resounding * **Thud** * fell throughout the ship. Normally she wouldn't have made a sound, but she wanted them to run, to feel the terror at the thought of their deaths. It would make it that much more exhilarating to break them later.

It was easy enough for her to see where they went. While it was minimal, blood was still falling from the 100-Man-Slayer, leaving a trail for her to follow. Shame the brunette's screaming stopped though, she'd have loved to make him feel even more pain.

With the thought of what she should do to the two of them in her mind, she calmly went down the halls to find her targets.

XX

The instant Bulat touched the ground of the lower floor, he let go of Belvaac, removed Tatsumi's mask, and ran deeper into the ship with the rookie over his shoulder.

When he made it even lower into the ship he heard the telltale sound of a landing. She had only just started her hunt.

Even though things were looking bleak for the duo, Bulat was a stubborn man. He leaned Tatsumi against a nearby wall as he looked at the damage to the two Teigu.

The mask seemed to be the most damaged compared to the sword. The only problem it received was a horizontal crack that went from edge to edge. While he would have to limit his Incursio usage for a while, it would fix itself over the next few weeks. Using the blood it received from its victims to fuel its repair.

While his emotions were high, Bulat knew it wouldn't be enough to trigger an evolution, plus the added strain to Incursio could lead to an adverse affect as well. He really couldn't see a way out of this.

"Where are we?" Tatsumi awoke to the face of his friend, so that was a good thing, but he could still feel that monster's gaze on him. It was enough for him to shut out the feeling of hunger and tiredness.

"Still on the ship." Bulat answered, looking at the intersection near them for any sign of her coming.

"We really can't fight her can we."

"Nope."

"So the only way out is to run."

"Seems like it, but she can catch us the second she sees us."

"Can't you go invisible and save yourself?"

"Incursio isn't a safe state to do so, it can result in its destruction if pushed to far. Plus, do you really think I could live with myself if another friend of mine fell into her grasp?"

The rhetorical question was left in the air as Tatsumi hobbled over to his friend and took a look at the two items himself.

It was a bizarre feeling, yet familiar. It wasn't until he brought the two closer did he remember. It held the same draw to it that Balzac had when he first saw it, but this one felt weaker, like growl instead of a roar.

"Both beasts are still conscious." The feeling grew slightly at his realization.

"What?"

"You can't feel it? The Teigu are crying out."

"What are you talking about, they've been weaponry for over a thousand years. Sure there's a possibility that Incursio is still there due to his evolving capabilities, but Balzac's only ability was to use the full potential of its body."

"I don't know, maybe it just made do with what it had and sustained itself in the mask. Maybe it drains my energy and that's why I get so hungry. I don't know, right now it doesn't matter how. All that matters is that there's a chance we can use this."

"What are you talking about, how can that help us right now?"

"I have a plan that'll either kill us or save us."

"Considering the options if we get taken by her, then I'm good with either outcome."

The wall next to Tatsumi shattered as an ice block broke through it and the next eight walls after that.

"I'm intrigued as well." Dust and splinters were blocking any clear lines of sight. "What do you think you can do to stop me?" She swiped her arm and the air cleared. She saw the boy who wore the mask hold it to his face with one hand, not quite letting it touch the skin, and Incursio in the other.

"This." The mask touched his face and once more altered his physical and mental cappabilities. The second Balzac touched him, he planted the sword in the ground and shouted; "INCURSIAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The phrase half got out before the pain reached him as his body shifted back and forth.

It seemed to induce something in the blade as the shimmering of the jewel increased to a blinding level. Before it suddenly just exploded and shattered into dust.

Bulat could only stare in shock.

Esdeath nearly broke down into a laughing fit.

And Tatsumi's knees gave in as he collapsed to the floor once more. In the deepest recesses of his mind, numb to the pain, all he could think was that he lost.

Then the crystal's dust all slammed down on his body. Covering his person and starting to dig past his skin. Creating an even more intense pain as his body started to alter itself on a molecular level. He could feel every change, every moved organ, every enhanced muscle, even every **added** organ. The feelings were so intense that Tatsumi blacked out.

As Tatsumi felt his body change, he experienced every second being an eternity. For the two seeing this impossible change, they could only stare, one in awe and fear, the other in glee and want.

The instant his eyes opened he knew everything about his new body, he knew how he knew, and he knew what to do to escape the monster in front of him.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **I know I know, i'm a tease. I just wanted to get this chapter out before I went to bed as a present for any other people going back to school tomorrow… though posting this at 11:40 P.M. might not have been the smartest idea on my part.**

 **For the people who listened to my complaining, thank you very much.**

 **To every one of you; I wish you an awesome day/night- N.I.A**


	6. Monsters Within

**Ninjafang1331:** Thanks

 **Deadpool:** Don't worry about it, hope were still on for _**That**_ though.

 **firedragoonknight/Princess Bloodina Carnage:** Here ya go.

 **WildCard555:** Hope you like it.

 **XxXxXxXx**

In the time it took Bulat to blink, Tatsumi was standing.

When Esdeath watched him she could see his movements. While they were incredibly more advanced then before, they were still slower than her own. As she looked for any outward differences, she only saw two, he seemed to be in a middle ground between his two forms, smaller then her, but not more than a few inches. And the eye guard that she broke was replaced by a red eye with a cross for a pupil. The gem that held Incursio's soul.

He waited for her to blink before he used all his speed and invisibility to attack.

If Esdeath was any less of a warrior, her decapitation would have been assured, but she wasn't the Empire's Strongest for nothing.

While the invisibility certainly threw her for a loop, it wasn't a game changer. While he could hide his body there was something more valuable a rookie couldn't hide. His presence, his emotions, his gorgeous bloodlust it was all out in the open for her to 'see'. A blush started to grow on her face as she stared eye to eye to the Night Raider. Her smile being that of a child on Christmas morning.

The second her hand touched his arm, Tatsumi was already jumping through the holes in the wall. Still he was to slow as his arm was encased in ice. With a primal growl he bashed his arm at a desk in the room, shattering the ice and wood.

'How can she know where we are?' The humming in his head held no answers.

"It seems parlor tricks would only be disrespectful at this point." Esdeath strolled into the room. "So let's see if you can handle more then half of my power." Her eyes met his as she unsheathed her rapier.

Her blade nearly met his chest only to be intercepted by Incursio's husk with a metallic clang. While no longer a teigu, the blade still was a masterpiece.

As she started to jab, her speed was gradually getting faster.

'She's still toying with us.' Under the mask his face turned into a snarl. Then an idea struck.

Esdeath visibly frowned, her speed seemed to grow to much for him as her blade got closer and closer to the masked man… until she heard him scream.

"Now, Tyrant!" With that the mask's mouth unhinged and showed his mouth. Along with the rows of new razor sharp teeth, chomping through the middle of her sword with no problem.

Wide eyed, she jumped back and looked at her sword. "Good work," Her eyes narrowed. "But not good enough." She swung her blade and ice as sharp as steel replaced the missing section.

She didn't like that she couldn't make out his eyes. She vaguely knew what he was feeling from his presence alone, but it didn't give her as much satisfaction as it did with peering into their very souls.

'You can see them when you capture him, don't worry about such trivial things in battle.' With those thoughts pushed to the back of her head, she ran towards her target.

Every clang resulted in a gust, every missed hit grew the agitation, every second resulted in Tatsumi learning more and more about his new body.

He knew that asides the physical changes, he had been altered on a mental level. He had memories. Memories of battles from eons ago, every second the teigu had lived, so had he. Every battle they were in so was he. Every scar they carried he did as well. Every technique that their user mastered, he was there.

This amalgamation of knowledge and experience was the only reason Tatsumi had not sustained an injury. Yet it still wasn't good enough to deal a single blow on Esdeath. Every time he got close he knew that she was just teasing him.

Such is why he needed to try something from the deepest recesses of his mind. There was one Danger Beast that actually managed to wound Tyrant from a very peculiar surprise attack. Hopefully the same would work on the demon in front of him.

Tatsumi's cheeks expanded as he readied his attack.

While the invisible blade from the right was obvious to the Ice Queen, she was honestly surprised by the blade he spit from his mouth.

The fraction of the second she saw the weapon, she understood why he was getting closer and closer to her.

He made sure that he could land something against her, if she focused on one front then the other would fall.

Either block the sword and get a cut on the face by the rapier chunk that was covered in spit, or stop that and receive a cut on the arm.

She went with option 3. Freeze the area 2 feet around her torso and head. Successfully stopping both attacks.

But like a brilliant bucket hat-ed man said, "If I prepare a thousand options, all I need is for one of them to work."

Here, while crude, Tatsumi had the perfect one at the ready. Punch her right in her frozen face. Her speed and maneuverability were at a standstill in this singular instant. Giving him the one opening she showed the entire battle.

With a mighty ***CRACK*** , Tatsumi's fist crashed through the ice landed a singular blow on Esdeath's solar plexus. The result was her flying through the walls of the ship and into the bubble she made to keep her prey in.

As she was collecting her shocked mind, Tatsumi was staring at the damage he just did after one punch. His eyes drifted down to his arm, it changed the instant his fist moved towards Esdeath. While the size and shape didn't seem to differ, the skin was no longer human. It was almost as if his hand was armor as the scales had no damage from the jagged ice. His gazed landed lastly on his knuckles, they each had one large spike made for piercing. On the very tips were drops of blood, but not his.

The smell allured him, commanded even, for him to ingest it. He couldn't help himself as his mask opened and he licked Esdeath's blood off his body.

While the sensation was small, he felt something, it was a pull. A yearning, a plea, a shout. A call for completion, unity, power.

He unconsciously followed its incredibly feeling within his mind and before his eyes were to reach her's. Reality came back.

"We need to run now, you got a hit in, but with her Teigu experience and you just getting these abilities, she has the upper hand." Bulat said, grasping the boy's shoulder.

With a shake of his head, Tatsumi focused on doing what his Bro said.

After all "he who fights and runs away may live to fight another day."

Grabbing Bulat by the collar of his jacket and a yell to take a deep breath, Tatsumi ran and jumped into the water. While normally a fall from that height would flatten any that touched the water, Tatsumi adjusted for that. He turned his back against the surface and when the impact occurred the hard scales on his back made it feel like a tickle instead of the normal spine shattering event.

The second him and Bulat were submerged, the scales on his back disappeared and his body evolved to best staying under water. His shoes were broken by his new webbed feet. His neck split open four lines on each side as gills were formed. Though his eyes did not seem to change aesthetically, they did allow him to see clearly through the water.

With a single kick, he sped off away from the boat, breaking through the ice under the water with his still barbed hand.

As he made his way further, the feeling of cold did not leave the back of his mind. The smile she had engraved into his mind. The sheer beauty of the monster was incredible. Though he knew that these thoughts were not his own, he couldn't help but feel as if he was making a mistake.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **I'm not entirely happy with how this went, though I will show what Es was doing/thinking in the half a minute it took for Tatsu to gain a link to her and flee with Bulat.**

 **PLEASE NOTE: Edeath still does not have any idea who Tatsumi is. While she did see his normal body for a brief second. She doesn't know his face or name. So while possibly dangerous, Tatsumi can go out without a disguise.**


	7. The Edge of Information

**Before I start this chapter off, I just wanted to say that you guys should check out a story that was inspired by one of my ideas. It's called** _ **Grim Tale**_ **, fair warning it's a dark story so be careful. Shit will get FUCKED UP. But this is the AKG fanbase, so who knows how you guys'll take it (I'm a bitch as stated when I said I can't watch a character I've grown attached to die)**

 **Guest/Justify Crimson:** Thank you.

 **Haruhism Follower:** Wave/Ran Teigu is proof that a double Teigu is possible if your will is able to make the Teigu to accept working together. (Tsundere Follower) Mine just had… well it'll be explained in a bit.

Don't get that bit about body parts, but I did get an idea for Esdeath V. Tatsumi (don't worry, their moms won't have the same name)

Well just because he had a teigu that doesn't mean he can never use another. Who knows, maybe i'll take suggestions.

That… yeah tbh I have no idea how this'll end. If Tatsumi and Esdeath will elope and create a lovechild, Akame and Mine admitting their feelings, Sheele finally getting that cookie on the top shelf, Dorthea going through an incredible story and staying alive till late 90's/early 2000's and telling her story to a reporter who then gets killed by a vampire friend of hers she thought to be dead when he was going to publish it, y'know, stuff like that.

 **orca3553:** That can be a possibility. Personally I thought it- ***computer crashes and blows up***

 **WildCard555:** You gotta remember, it takes a specified amount of Demon Extract to have powers. So maybe if he waits a few months his blood cells die off and get replaced with them, giving him _**weak**_ ice powers, but I got a better idea.

Yes, he did.

Here you go.

 **XxXxXxXx**

The impact certainly held an new feeling. No, that wasn't right, it was an old one. It just never appeared in all her time since reaching the Capital.

Esdeath felt pain.

It wasn't much, just a small prick, but it made her feel something deep. Something primal.

Something powerful.

Her heart was a jackrabbit and her face a strawberry. She didn't know this feeling, she heard tale of it, but never once did she fall victim to it.

Was she in love?

She would see deeper into this at a better time, but now she had to deal with the men that killed her subordinates. Her gaze fell to them, the one she didn't even know of until this incident was looking at the hand he hit her with, and the Hundred-Man Slayer was making his way to his comrade.

She'd cripple him before he took another step and freeze the brunette. If he was capable of hitting her nearly a foot into her ice wall that was already 50 feet away from the ship, then he was more than capable of surviving the cold until she could properly restrain him in the palace.

As she tried to move her arms to push herself free, she noticed something.

She couldn't move.

It wasn't only that, the pain on her stomach seemed to be the only thing she could feel. To test her hypothesis she bit, or whatever you could call the strange motion of closing your teeth with half success, into her cheeks. She had no control over her body, but had complete access to feeling. She hadn't heard of a drug like this before. She shouldn't have even been susceptible to poisons. Her Demon Extract should have annihilated any pathogen that entered her bloodstream.

She shook her head, she could have Stylish check out her blood later, if she couldn't use her sword to stop the enemy, then her abilities can do it for her.

As her mind stressed on freezing the Night Raiders in place, something peculiar was noticed.

Her body felt cold.

That was a physical impossibility, once the Demon Extract entered her body she became the coldest person on the planet, literally. So how in the world did the ice she created feel cold to her. And not only that, as the duo was jumping from the ship, she couldn't create anything to impede their retreat.

As they left her sight, she could only think about what the masked man did to her. He had taken all control from her body and nullified the ability of her Teigu… She was definitely going to have this man for herself. But until this effect wore off she would only have her own mind as company. Seeing as she had nothing to do for an unforeseen amount of time, it was perfect to create ideas on how to stop him and counteract his abilities herself.

She would have smiled had her face been under control. She had the idea of a Trump Card for a while, but if she just made a few alterations… Oh it would be a beautiful catastrophe.

 **XxXx**

"C'mon, you gotta stop worrying, they're only a day late. You know as well as me that if they were dead that the Capital would string 'em up in the gates." Leone tried to calm down the worried Sheele.

When Sheele was nervous she did things, and when Sheele did things, nothing good came of it. When they were a few hours late she tried to bake; destroying the oven. When they didn't come in the morning she cleaned the base; she scrubbed soup into the floor and gave everyone at the base soapy water for breakfast. And now she tried to do the laundry in the afternoon. Her clothes were small enough already, Leone didn't need them to shrink to a size smaller.

"I know you're right, but I can't help it. He nearly died and then we just sent him out on a mission before he even gained good handling on his Teigu." While it only happened once in a blue moon, Sheele did make sense from time to time.

"C'mon, you know that Boss is smarter then all of us, so stop worrying, she knows that even if he doesn't have the best grasp on his power he still grows exponentially better each time he uses it. In all honesty, he probably can get mastery of it in around 3 months. If he trains non-stop that is."

"If only we had the Dangai." Lubbock whinned, collecting the clothes of his that Sheele washed before Leone stopped her. The rags seemed to have been chewed by a Cave Bear. Subtly trying to get one of the girl's underwear that was hung next to his.

"Well this isn't a manga so get over it." Mine ranted, just before kicking him in the shin and grabbing her panties.

"Really Lubbock, really?" Akame was just disappointed, he was a master assassin, he should be more sleight-of-hand then that.

"I deny any and all claims against m-" before he finished the reel on Cross Tail moved. "We got company." The nice and friendly air around the assassins turned cold and serious as a possible threat was located.

Akame took lead as Najenda was not present. "How many and how far?"

"It feels like just one big guy. He's right at the edge of my strings due north, but he seems to be getting closer… and hitting each line on his way here."

"Let's go." With that, Akame grabbed Murasame from where it leaned against the wall. Leone activated Lionel. And Lubbock waved his fingers, retracting the thread he had in base to use in battle."Mine, Sheele, you two tell Boss where we went, join up with us if we haven't returned in ten minutes." The duo nodded and rushed inside.

The run there was only filled with tension and Lubbock saying where the man was from their position. When he was just five seconds away from contact, Lubbock wrapped his wires around the man's legs, Leone rushed ahead to take on any secret trick they might have with her advanced healing, and Akame moved in from her position at the side.

"Well that's certainly a strange way to greet someone." Bulat said as his face was in the floor and his pompadour splashed against ground.

"Bulat!" Lubbock immediately undid his strings.

"What the hell took you so lo…" Leone stopped short as she saw what was on his back.

Tatsumi had reverted to his original size and shape after he got Bulat to the shore, but when he took one step he immediately collapsed on the floor. He still hadn't woken up from two days ago and Bulat had to carry him all the way to the base. But the unconscious figure wasn't the reason she stopped, it was the mark that was on the back of his neck.

"How the hell does Tatsumi have that on him!?" She couldn't imagine how their newest recruit received the same mark on him that the Empire's strongest had on her chest.

"We can talk at the base. I'll tell you all I know and after Tatsumi wakes up then we can all get some insight on what happened back there."

"S-sure." Lubbock was still trying to sort out this mess in his head.

 **XxXx**

"So you're telling me that after taking down the Three Beasts, Esdeath showed up, toyed with you, Tatsumi tried something stupid, it worked, and you escaped Esdeath." This was a lot of shit to deal with before Lunch.

"In a nutshell." The meeting was taking place in the infirmary, as Bulat gave his knowledge, Akame cleaned and redressed his wounds.

"I think that bringing this bumpkin onboard will lead to either the best circumstances or the worst. Only time can tell." Mine was seriously shocked at the shit this kid did on his first big time mission.

"Oh don't be like that, our little Tatsu's just turned into a beast." Leone just shrugged off what she just heard and started to give Mine a noogie.

"You know, it'd be better if you took this seriously." Lubbock was getting a headache at Mine's shouts of anger. "Right Akame?"...

He turned his head to see the deadly woman sitting by the small bed Tatsumi occupied in the room. 'And she is in super protective mode, isn't she?' Lubbock knew she'd be like this for a while before she could accept her friend wasn't going to die any time soon.

Sheele appeared to be the only other member to notice this as well. She walked up next to Akame and looked back and forth between her and the unconscious boy. She saw that the red-eyed assassin looked downtrodden, so she did what she thought would help. Politely ask Tatsumi to wake up.

"Hey Tatsumi, mind getting up?"

Nothing happened.

Lubbock, being the kind man he is, totally not trying to be the rebound hero at the moment, went to comfort the airhead. "That was a nice gesture Sheele but I think it'll take more then that to-"

Tatsumi's eyes shot open, he shot up, and created a very eloquent sentence.

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH, WHAT THE FUCK! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Tatsumi gasped out.

When he finally caught his breath, Tatsumi looked at the members within the room and spoke clearly. "Good, you guys are all here. I got some stuff you need to hear."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Think this is the first time I don't have anything to say about this chapter. Feel like it's pretty average.**

 **Anyways, have an Awesome day: N.I.A.**


	8. Comfort the Humanity

**Guest:** Like I said, even i'm not sure how this'll turn out. But as we go further along, the more I can imagine for any pair.

 **Ninjafang1331/J.f.w(Guest):** Thank you.

 **FanFictionHunter:** * **Looks at newest manga chapter** *… Well a fourth.

 **WildCard555:** Sheele, hands down.

 **HeavensDownfall:** Well I did it once or twice a month during the summer, but with school, it ain't so easy now. But I will try one at least every month and a half. Remember I do switch from updating this story to my drabble one, but once I finish my list of drabbles then this one should be my only priority. Unless inspiration strikes and I want to write a drabble.

 **XxXxXxXx**

As all the Night Raid members calmed down from that startling awakening. Mine was the first to speak.

"You wake up from a mini coma and THAT is the first thing to come from your mouth!?"

"Well sorry, I just had to process centuries of information in…"

"Two days."

"Thank you Akame. TWO DAYS, some of it is still messing with me."

Before Mine could shout again, Najenda cut in.

"What he said then doesn't matter. What we need to focus on is a more thorough explanation of what happened on that boat." With no disagreements, she nodded at Tatsumi to start.

"That's a bit difficult to explain. I guess Bro told you the gist of it, right?"

A nod.

"So that saves a bit of time. Let's just get the biggest thing out of the way." His eyes stared everywhere away from his friends. "I may… not necessarily be a human anymore."

A shocked silence permeated through the room.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" inquired Lubbock.

Tatsumi still couldn't look at them. "When Incursio's gem shattered and dug inside me. It fused itself and Balzac to me. Now it's more like Tyrant's wearing me and not the other way around."

No one spoke, no one knew what to say… until Sheele asked him something.

"Are you still Tatsumi?" The question was simple yet difficult to answer.

"I..." he finally looked her in the eye. His right one was the same as the gem of Incuriso."I don't know. I have my memories, what I like and dislike, my personality, but I'm just a vessel for some monster." His left arm had a death grip on his right forearm, his knuckles turned white from the pressure.

Sheele moved closer and Tatsumi couldn't maintain his gaze. He clenched his eyes, as he couldn't think of anything except the worst possible scenario, he was unprepared for what came next.

"Well I believe that you are still you, nothing can change that. No matter what happens, as long as you keep that faith, no one else can say you're not." Sheele spoke into his ear. Holding him close in her hug.

"Sheele..." His eyes stung as his arms wrapped around her.

"Took the words right outta my mouth." A hand was ruffling his hair as Leone chose not to squish him in her boobs at this moment.

"Once a bumpkin, always a bumpkin. No changing that no matter how you look at it." Mine comforted in her tsundere way.

"Yeah, you'd think he'd have a little more faith in us after we killed together." Lubbock said dismissively.

"Give the kid a break, he isn't as used to difficult stuff as us." Najenda tapped Lubbock on the arm. He muffled his cry of pain with a string muzzle.

"Tatsumi, you know all of us have our fair share skeletons. Why would we care about yours?" Bulat gave his input.

Akame just looked him in the eyes and smiled. Conveying her emotions as best she could through their gaze.

"Everyone… thank you. For accepting a monster like me, thank you." His tears broke through as they started to fall.

"Hey!" He was yanked from Sheele as his head was tilted up making him view two round objects obstructed by a tube top."We already told ya', you're Tatsumi, not a monster, as long as you think you're you then I won't have to beat that into your skull."

"Leone… you definitely need to work on your comforting skills." Lubbock told her from his end of the bed.

"Like you're one to talk Mr. Rebound. Don't think I didn't see you trying to get Sheele you perv."

"WHAT!? LUBBOCK, YOU ARE SO DEAD! HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT INFECTING SHEELE WITH YOUR FILTHY PRESENCE!" Mine screamed.

"I don't know what she's talking about." Lubbock denied. "She's only trying to make me look bad. Where's her proof!?"

"Her word being around five times more trustworthy then yours." Akame joined in on the fun.

Tatsumi just smiled as he saw the scene going on around him. Until he noticed something.

Sheele hadn't let him go.

He looked at her face only to see her eyes closed and drool going down her cheek. She fell asleep.

"Don't worry about it." He looked up to see Najenda standing next to him. Watching everyone gang up against Lubbock. "She was so scared that you and Bulat didn't come back yesterday that she didn't get a wink of sleep. So this is good for her."

Tatsumi nodded as he laid her down next to him and got off the bed.

"You better now?" Tatsumi nodded. "Then let's get back to your debrief. You mind explaining your new abilities to us?" As the group saw that the conversation was going on track they stopped their banter.

"Well, it's really just a mix of both Incursio and Balzac's power. Since Incursio can evolve with enough emotion or dire enough situation and Balzac can tap into the full potential of its wearer. Then it allows me to evolve at will to best combat the enemy. But it's not endless, like, I can't just make myself breath fire or shoot water from my hands. So far, I think it's just all the adaptions Tyrant made when it was still alive. So hardened skin, spikes, invisibility, all that stuff is easy. I was even able to become aquatic, so Tyrant probably needed to cross an ocean or something before the king's men went after it."

"Damn, the little runt became such a powerhouse in his first battle against a teigu user. Anyone else feel like it's a little unfair?" Lubbock asked the room.

"Actually, I have a question." Akame completely ignored the resident pervert. "You say that Balzac is tied to your power, but what happened to the mask?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Bro do you have it?"

"It was in my jacket." Motioning to the coat rack in the room.

Leone dug through it before tossing the mask to Akame.

"So does this still contain any of its original power?" It was strange that something that held such magnificent power could now simply be a simple object for decoration.

"It shouldn't, but to err on the safe side." Tatsumi grabbed the mask from Akame and put it back on his face.

No one was really prepared for what happened next.

The mask seemed to fold over and slide so that it covered his face without a gap between the skin and the mask. Acting like a second skin, and if that wasn't creepy enough, then the mask changed color and shifted its texture.

Tatsumi slapped his face and made strange facial expressions. Feeling out the face on top of his.

"This better?"

The group had no words, they just witnessed the empty teigu alter itself to better fit his face and then change to look and feel like Tatsumi's original face. Including covering his Incuriso eye with one that looked like his original.

Akame was the first to get back to normal. "You look... great." Even though she hesitated it was made up for with a thumbs-up.

"That's good to hear." Tatsumi walked towards the door. "I'll talk to you about what happened in my fight with Esdeath, but for now let's get some grub, i'm starving." When he took one step out the door his face firmly planted itself onto the stone floors of the base.

Leone being the closest to the door was the first one to pick the boy up. "Dammit, we really gotta put a faint jar in here or something if Tatsumi keeps doing this so often."

"How 'bout a swear jar? He does that enough to." Lubbock didn't really seemed to scared for his buddy, more jealous really since he had Leone holding him and Akame checking his vitals.

"What the fuck." Now that got everyone's attention. Akame was never one to swear, so whatever caused it must have been big.

Leone had to tilt the brunette's head back to see what happened, but when she did, she understood everyone's shock.

Tatsumi's eyes, both of them, were the same as Incursio's gem.

 **XxXx**

"Ugh, what happened." Tatsumi looked around but all he could see was a white haze as a blizzard blinded him. Yet he didn't feel the effects of it. No hypothermia, frostbite or anything of the sort, and he was still just in his, very torn, suit from the Ryuusen. "What the hell is going on?"

As if to answer him, the snow parted and showed a village surviving this storm that would kill anyone from his village in hours.

Seeking answers, Tatsumi trudged through snow until he arrived.

Well that's what he attempted to do, yet no matter how hard or long he tried to move, the distance didn't seem to change.

Seeing this to be some sort of trick Tatsumi tried to see through any other part of the storm. It felt like hours before he saw something. It could have been easily missed, Such light blue in the sea of white. When Tatsumi moved towards it, this time he seemed to actually make progress as the figure grew clearer. When he was able to make out that the being was a kneeling human, he was shocked at what they were doing. Their body was soaked in blood and a dead raptor-like Danger Beast laid dead, it's core taken out and being carefully placed into the… girl's bag.

The closer he got the more he recognized the child, but when he was right above her shoulder he still couldn't remember. Tatsumi grabbed her shoulder to see if he knew her face, but what she said shocked him.

"Did I do well father?" What the hell! Tatsumi didn't have any kids. What was this girl on about? He was about to ask her if she was okay when he realized. 'She's a mirror image of Esdeath.'

A low rumble was felt throughout the plain.

Tatsumi looked around and wondered what caused that. Placing the Esdeath-lookalike securely behind him. Without his sword his abilities could still take on any Danger Beast he knew of.

" **You'd think an assassin would be able to make out their target without needing to see their face."**

Tatsumi's blood went cold as he turned to where the voice was, directly above him. His jaw dropped as he saw the figure that engulfed the sky.

'Tyrant.'

The dragon smiled at his realization.

" **Oh I have something very important to tell you, child. So be careful or be swallowed by madness."**

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **How'd you like that cliffhanger? Also before you ask, no that is not Tatsumi and Esdeath's child.**

 **Internet cookie for whoever guesses who mini-death is before the next chapter comes out.**

 **Have an Awesome day- N.I.A**


	9. Trip Down Memory Lane

" **If you are wondering where the author went, he left a note. It says 'Went to buy more cookies, my readers are too fucking smart. The comment response will be at the end of the chapter.'"**

 **XxXxXxXx**

His knees were stone, his spine was jelly, and his throat was constricting as he nearly vomited.

Tyrant was impressed, usually when someone saw him they soiled themselves in fear.

Tatsumi clenched his teeth and calmed down. The storm seemed to settle marginally. "What the hell is going on, I knew you were conscious, but if you're here then shouldn't someone else be." The Danger Beast knew who the boy was referring to.

" **Oh, but he's right here."** Tyrant seemed to have a jovial tone.

Tatsumi turned and looked behind himself when he saw nothing ahead. Only to be shocked that the Esdeath copy had disappeared, the blood in the snow as well.

" **You seem to have misunderstood."** The voice came from behind him. As he instinctively slashed with his arm, it was caught with an armored hand.

The walking Incursio armor didn't care about the attack and only calmly tapped Tatsumi's forehead. " **You are the embodiment of Balzac."**

Tatsumi jumped back as well as he could with the snow reaching up to his knees. "What the hell are you talking about."

" **Really boy, I expect more from you."** The helmet shook disappointedly. " **My abilities allowed me to evolve and stay alive. If the beast that made Balzac could only make the cells in it's body work at optimal efficiency, that's the reason we now have faster healing. But what makes you think it retained its soul?"**

Tatsumi gulped, "So you mean..."

" **Stop being so horrified. You certainly were able to move past that in the fact that you tried and successfully** _ **became**_ **a teigu."**

"So I'm…"

" **Even less human then you thought? Yes. Now get over it. You got told that speech from your friends. That's the only reason I brought you in here so soon. You have accepted that fact and are now at the best point for me to show you this."**

"Just slow down, what the hell are you talking about?"

" **Ugh, I keep expecting such great things from you with what I've witnessed, but you keep dashing my hopes."** The armor placed it's fingers on where the temples would be and rubbed, the metal bending and folding over itself like skin. " **You saw a miniature version of Esdeath, who's teigu is her blood, just after you ingested some of her blood. What do you think she is doing in your head?"** The glowing yellow eyes from the suit were screaming at him to figure it out for himself.

"Her blood is messing with me." The armor waved its hand in a go-on motion. "And… that's why there's a storm this bad here. I've never seen this place before in my life, but she might have."

" **My prayers were answered, you aren't retarded."** The claps made by its metallic hands seemed to ring in the air. " **Now that you proved that, let's see if you can understand this."** With a snap, the blizzard started to glow and blind Tatsumi.

When Tatsumi regained his sight, he saw something peculiar. Mini-death was back, but she didn't have that blood covered smile like before. Over her shoulder was a bird type Danger Beast and her face, it held an expression he never thought he'd see on someone so young. It was that of complete terror and disbelief.

"W-what is this?" Her voice was dead as well.

She tossed her kill to the side and ran right through Tatsumi. After getting over that strange event, Tatsumi turned and saw where she went. A village that couldn't have been pillaged less than an hour ago. Fires were still raging and the smell of blood was still thick when he arrived. He looked for Esdeath, Tyrant sent him to this event for a reason, and he'd rather not see the mangled corpses through the eyes of a ten year old again.

Tatsumi found her when she screamed at a survivor if he was alright. The man was so injured that he was left to die since he wasn't seen as a threat, but his will was strong enough that he wouldn't let go of his grasp on this world.

"Esdeath, so you survived." The man's abdomen had been sliced and he laid on the ground as he was bleeding out.

"What happened?" She couldn't stop shaking.

"Another tribe came past our borders and invaded us." He saw the girl look around to the wreckage and corpse piles. "The chief took to the front of our forces. He was able to take out tens before he was eventually defeated." His eyes drifted to mangled tent behind him.

"Father!" Esdeath shouted and ran towards the man who was impaled by five spears. By some miracle he was still alive.

No, it wasn't a miracle, each spear was located in a nonfatal area. They wanted him to suffer, to show that even their leader was no match for their strength.

"Esdeath." He could see the fear in his daughter's eyes. "Don't worry about what happened here. We were weak and they were strong. There is nothing more to it then that." He coughed up blood. "But you should thrive, stay strong and keep this clan alive. Be strong, Esdeath." With that, he died.

Tatsumi felt his head swarming, he started to writhe on the floor as he felt everything that was going through Esdeath's child mind enter his. Every scene where her father talked about how the strong will always thrive over the weak. How the weak have no place in this world. There were hundreds of instances of this throughout her life. And then he felt it, she snapped.

She didn't cry or shout. She only made a vow. No one weaker than her would be allowed to take her life. No matter how much she wanted to see her family, she would not take her own life and strive to be strong as her father wished, and when she finally met her match. She would be able to see all her loved ones again.

"Ha ha, ha ha ha, HA HA HA HA HA!" She laughed like a madman as unknown tears coursed down her face.

As Tatsumi got up from the snow caked ground, he saw many feathered creatures with wide feet, long legs, and sharp teeth; scavenger Danger Beasts approached the camp. Attracted by smell of blood. When one caught sight of the broken girl, it lunged. Only to be batted aside by a spear the child pulled from her father's chest and quickly be decapitated.

Her bloody smile was back. She dealt with any scavenger that attempted to come near her and when they ran, she heaved the spear through the air and caught a straggler in the leg. Planning to use it for dinner that night.

As Tatsumi saw a child do what he could only do after completing his training with his master, he could only watch in shock.

He was so focused on the knowledge of his enemy he just received that he didn't even see something appear behind him. He was thrown out of his musings when he heard something say his name.

" _A Tatsumi, so glad to finally see you."_ Once more Tatsumi instinctually swiped behind him. Only for his arm to phase through the entity. " _Hm, Tyrant was right. You need to work on your manners."_ As the being was molding back into shape, it swung its arm and a chunk of ice in the shape of a fist swatted Tatsumi to the side.

As Tatsumi got over the pain, he looked up to see a woman. No, not a woman, it was certainly female, but it wasn't human.

When she took her final step, she twitched a finger and ice hit his chest and launched him into a standing position.

With Tatsumi bent over, coughing and trying to regain his breath, the entity took this as the best time to speak.

" _So, I showed you my power and I'm curious, are you smart enough to know what I am?"_ As he saw her face, he could make out blood red lips, white skin and cold blue eyes.

"You're her power." He already had a dragon and suicidal mass murder in his head. 'Why the fuck not have a demon here to.' Tatsumi couldn't believe his bad luck.

" _Well, I wouldn't call it bad, not yet at least. You've yet to even truly see what I'm capable of. So by extension, you don't know what Esdeath is capable of."_ She gained a crooked smile. " _Although, I suppose I could tell you… for a price."_ She licked her lips at his widened eyes.

Tatsumi swallowed the spit in his mouth. "And what exactly would that be."

" _Just let me go."_ He noticed the shackles on her ankles and wrists. " _You have the key, if you so wish it."_ Tatsumi felt his breast pocket get heavier. " _The decision is completely up to you on whether you want this knowledge or not."_

Tatsumi's hand went into the pocket and he felt the key. He made a choice.

He closed his eyes and focused on the two and a half decades of information that came with Esdeath. He needed to sift through years to see what he was looking for. Experiencing what she did as he saw through her eyes.

When he opened his eyes he was somewhere completely different. Multiple teigu lined a table as Esdeath was wearing her General garb. She had tried them all and had the closest connection to Belvaac, but it still felt off.

She asked the Minister about the urn wrapped by chains. He explained what it was, but Tatsumi didn't care about this, he made everything move faster until he reached the point he wanted.

Oh, this would be fucking wallop.

As Esdeath finished the blood, which had a surprisingly tangy aftertaste to it, she seemed fine for the next two seconds. Then came what he was looking for.

Her every thought was replaced with horrid ideals and wishes of depravity. He felt her shattered mind crack ever so slightly more. She completely dominated those feelings within seconds, but not without lasting consequences.

Tatsumi knew her past. While she did kill, usually the only torturing she did was on animals as she was better harvesting their parts. But after this, her morals became even greyer. Torturing just for the fun of it, to get reactions from her victims. She wanted to know what that feeling was.

Happiness. Not just some petty joy she received from annihilating her enemy or recruiting someone to her personal guard. She thought taking it from others was the only way to do so.

This time Tatsumi felt her come. The aura of darkness and insanity apparent around her. "You really thought you could trick me, huh?" He looked to the side to see her completely livid. As she moved her hands nothing struck the boy as her cuffs evolved. Capturing her hand and restricting her arms.

"I want to know what she's capable of, but not from you. So you are just going to stay locked up in the dark. I won't ever let you infect me with your madness, you understand!"

The demon screeched and ice was readied to shoot from its mouth. But then she was shot by an arrow and her neck held in place with an axe. Soon a muzzle was added to her restraints.

Tatsumi couldn't stop his tears as he saw his friends long passed. It was good to see them again, even if they were only a memory they would still protect him.

"Sayo, Ieyasu."

"Hey Tatsumi, long time no see." Ieyasu spoke from behind the ice demon.

"Glad to see you haven't forgotten about us." Sayo joked.

"You guys… thank you for being here and still saving me." His eyes were shadowed by his hair.

"What the hell's with you Tatsumi? Since when did you become so sappy."

"Shut up, Ieyasu. He's getting one more look at his passed friends. Why the hell wouldn't he be happy and sad."

"Well I wouldn't get that way if you were the one who died."

"What did you just say!" Sayo's scream would have made Mine proud.

"Nothing." Ieyasu whimpered. Now using the monster as a shield to protect him from the real demon.

"Ha ha ha ha ha." Tatsumi couldn't help laughing. They were the same as when he last saw them. But then he couldn't stop from frowning at the thought of not being able to really see them again.

"Cheer up you dummy." Sayo lightly tapped his arm. "We might be gone, but as long as you keep us in your heart we'll never disappear. Got it?"

"Geez, you guys really are sappy." Ieyasu said, totally not hiding his tears.

"Yeah yeah, well come on, we got a prisoner to keep watch on." She walked back to the demon before looking at Tatsumi.

"Goodbye." When he blinked, they were gone, and he was somewhere familiar.

The walls were the same yellow, the floor still red with a strange pattern on the rug, even Najenda's chair was perfectly placed. The only odd thing in the room was who was on the chair.

" **So, I take it you met** _ **her**_ **."** His body still had flakes of snow falling off of it. " **And you've gone through the mind of your enemy."** The armor placed its arms on the armrests and leaned forward. " **Learn anything."**

"You already know the answer to that… but I do have one question." As Tyrant nodded Tatsumi asked. "Why did you show all this to me. You could have kept this all to yourself, I don't see how you benefit from it."

" **It's quite simple… I only showed you this all out of curiosity."** He waved his hand as if this was a common manner. " **After being this suit of armor for a millennium, I want to see what my wearer will do now that he truly knows his enemy. I've seen far to many people fight a faceless opponent. But I wish to see what humanity will do… no that's not right. I want to see what** _ **you**_ **will do."** He got off the throne like chair and waved to it for Tatsumi to sit on. As the boy walked there, Tyrant spoke. " **I know what you have chosen. I am impressed, if you succeed in this endeavor then I might take to calling you a man."** He started to walk into the base as Tatsumi sat down. " **I wish you luck child."** With that Tyrant disappeared and Tatsumi sat down.

"Well this was an informative trip, but how do I leave." Then the 'wise' words of his boss came to mind. "What would be the opposite of what I did to get here? I guess staying up, so what'll happen if I try to sleep here?" When Tatsumi closed his eyes he immediately fell asleep.

 **XxXx**

He felt himself yawn and stretch. As he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a kind sight in the infirmary.

Night had come and moonlight illuminated the room. But he could clearly see the people there.

Sheele had taken to resting her head on his bedside.

Mine was on a nearby cot with a pink pillow. She had probably only came to keep Sheele safe.

From what you might ask? From the pervert who made himself a hammock out of his strings.

Bulat seemed to sleep like a horse and was just leaning against the wall.

Akame sat on a chair with a plate of food beside her. It must have taken considerable will for her to have left it for him.

Leone still had her drunken blush but was cutely snuggling with Sheele.

And Najenda had still not fallen asleep. Taking a late night smoke by the window.

"Hey boss." Tatsumi weakly greeted.

She turned her head to face him. "Seemed someone woke up from their beauty sleep." She let out a drag of smoke. "So, what happened?"

"I…" This would not be an easy chat to have, so he figured it'd be best if he told everyone in the morning. "Why don't you get some sleep. I still need to figure some of that out myself."

"Hmph, fine. But I expect a full explanation to be given tomorrow." With that she walked over to an unoccupied cot and let herself rest.

Tatsumi sat there in the dark, waiting anxiously for the sun to rise. This would be a difficult conversation, but he figured it'd be best to get it out of the way.

He just hoped someone would be close enough to stop Mine from blasting him to cinders.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Bit of a weird ending, I know, but I wanted to get to the conversation next chapter. Oh, and if you didn't get it. Tyrant sealed Extract, I insinuated that when I said her cuffs evolved.**

 **Now onto the review response.**

 **FanFictionHunter:** *begrudgingly* Here's your cookie.

 **ChaosOmega8:** Well he's just wearing it to cover his altered eye.  
*throws cookie*

 **Orca3553:** I'll give you half a cookie, since you were right, but were questioning yourself.

 **NinjaFang1331:** Thank you

 **talonjay:** Like I said, I got no idea for the pair, but given Tatsumi's decision on what to do to Esdeath. It can be possible.

 **WildCard555:** Yeah, my Tyrant is okay with watching, but when Tatsumi dies, he's taking his body. They probably spent years chasing him and barely any of the original force survived.  
Thank you.

 **Memes:** When are you gonna stop posting Harambe? It's getting old.  
But yeah, Tyrant has been the doing the heavy lifting since he became Incursio, he wants someone else to do it and just sit back and watch. When Tatsumi passes and his soul no longer inhabits his body, then he'll take it for himself and alter it to his preference.


	10. This Was Unexpected

**Guest:** Thank you.

 **HeavensDownfall:** You apologize about not reviewing, in a review...

 **WildCard555:** Nail and Kami help him gain powers and moves (Nail Gu-*neck snapped*!) While Tatsumi has all the knowledge of Tyrant and knows his limits(he's gotta have one. Just takes Alucard/Esdeath levels to get there.), Tyrant is basically watching all this go down with a bucket of popcorn. As for Extract's contribution, that'd be knowledge throughout Esdeath's life and understanding of each ability she thought up or theorized from her first day of existence, to when he ingested her blood, but since he kinda locked her up like Bats did to Joker in Arkham Knight, she's out for blood.

 **Come on, 49 reviews? No one bothered to go the extra mile and get me to 50. So cold… but on the plus side, OVER 60 FOLLOWS! (If emojis actually showed up on the site then you could bet your ass I'd be spamming them). Though still only about 45 favs...**

 **Cool thing I saw, each chapter has had at least 4 reviews per. So I hope we either continue that or get even more.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

It had been three days since Esdeath snuck out of the capital and fought that masked Night Raider, two days since she met and tested her new group she dubbed the 'Jaegers', one day since Stylish came back to her with a repaired Scream and reported she had a clean bill of health, and not one second where the masked brunette was not on her mind.

It baffled her, she was currently at the tournament she asked the Emperor to set to find her a lover, but it was unneeded. That one man, the thought of him made her heart flutter and cheeks flush. The thought of breaking him was nice, but upon further investigation (advice from Bols) she found that it would be better to talk to him and try to convince him to join her side. While it would be difficult, she saw no harm to do it when it was just the two of them fighting. If he was in the process of attacking her underlings or something charged under her care then it was another matter entirely.

As the beginning of the final round was sounded, Esdeath was brought back into reality. While she'd much rather be in the torture chambers, she had been the one to ask that the young Emperor hold this tourney, so she couldn't refuse to appear.

She knew wishing to be somewhere else would only make this all the more annoying. So she focused on the secondary reason for holding this event, looking for Jaegers candidates. Even if the Three Beasts were gone, they could still be of use by means of their own Teigu.

The instant he stepped into the ring Esdeath knew the beast man would be of no use. He was far too rash, prideful, arrogant. All things that could be used to manipulate him. If not for those flaws, he would have been a great inheritor for Belvaac.

The other participant however, he had gotten to the finals without even getting touched. His cloak's hood blocking his face from view. He had even payed off the referee to keep his name secret. He was the only reason Esdeath bothered to even pay a modicum of attention to a match with the bull-man.

The announcer finally took his place and reintroduced the competitors to the crowd.

"To the east, we have Kalbi the Butcher; a holder of the title of 9th level Imperial Fist mastery." The creature's nostrils widened as he exhaled, bucking in place like a beast. That seemed to excite some of the crowd as they cheered his name.

"And to the west we have our untouched, unnamed, and undefeated; Bounty Hunter." At the added flare to his introduction the entire stadium roared in a cheer.

Tatsumi had to keep himself from blushing like an idiot. As he scoped out the crowd, two figures popped out the most to him. One wearing a green overcoat and gloves in the warm weather and the girl who wore basically nothing except a tube top and underwear with a belt.

They only barely agreed to his asinine (their words) plan. And that was before he said it'd take place in public. When he brought that up… well, at least the base got a skylight… that went past about 10 floors and the plateau that hid their base from an aerial view… Mine is fucking scary sometimes.

When the bell signifying the start of the round was sounded, Kalbi tried to persuade his opponent to leave. Meaning he boasted how such a tiny opponent couldn't possibly be a match for him.

"You know, when you've seen even a fraction of what I've seen. It's pretty obvious that size doesn't really account for much. In fact, two people here could kill you in less than a second."

The beast man only laughed. "And who might they be?"

"Well," Tatsumi took a step towards Kalbi. "One is currently watching this fight and analyzing every single move we make." Another step. "And the second one" With his third step, Kalbi lost sight of him. "is me."

Kalbi instinctively moved to attack the man who appeared behind him. As the forearm connected to Tatsumi's head with enough force to destroy a skull, a scream ran throughout the stadium.

Kalbi could only leave his arm to dangle as it was now numb after he touched his opponent's face. No blood came out of the wound, but he felt the pain of his pierced skin. Though after he got over that surprise, he was greeted to another.

Tatsumi hadn't even moved an inch from the hit.

"I gave you a free shot and you couldn't even withstand that? You really are all talk." As the bull man launched another blow to Tatsumi's face with his other fist, the result was the same.

Tatsumi was really happy that Tyrant had developed a paralyzing toxin to stop prey from running away. It allowed him to beat his opponents with only knicking them. Though he was surprised how much it took to stop the butcher. He chalked it up to his sheer size that he wasn't a rag doll yet.

"You give up?" This was kinda getting sad now.

"Never, on my honor as a 9th level master of the Imperial Fist, I never back dow-" He was cut short by a hit to the face that launched him out of the arena and into unconsciousness.

It took a few seconds for the audience to realize what happened, but the stadium was soon filled with cheers.

While under normal circumstances, Tatsumi would be blushing a new shade of red. He only turned to stare at Esdeath. He had tried to be more obvious in this last round. He needed her to find out who he was, he knew that she would play along, if only to satisfy her curiosity of what his being there was for.

Esdeath herself had suspicions, all of his opponents received the same puncture mark and fell seconds later. No one would notice them if they weren't looking for them. And the way they all still groaned and moaned in their pathetic pain. It was similar to what had happened to her aboard the Ryuusen.

She marched down from her podium and jumped down to the arena. Her landing making next to no noise, but as everyone quieted at the sight of the Empire's Strongest moving once more. It felt comparable to a cannon shot.

"You have won the tournament, but before you receive your reward. It is customary to show your face to the one holding the tourney." While she would have much rather just yank that hood off, Bols said treating your partner with _some_ (actually it was mutual) respect was key. So if her hunch was right, then she would rather not start off on the wrong foot… Then again, she did try to kill him and he did kill her subordinates.

Meh, it'd be easier to just call it even.

At Esdeath's request, Tatsumi grabbed his hood and pulled it down. Revealing his face to her and making her smile grow at her confirmation. He had the same hair, height, and, compared to what little she could see at the time, eyes.

"My name's Tatsumi, and let me thank you for holding this contest. My village is in desperate need of money." He knew from seeing that list she gave the Prime Minister that he was already passing each standard she set, though he didn't really pay attention to the conversation when he invaded that memory, he could go back any time if he needed to, but at his current rate he was already going through nearly half a decade a night, so skipping to find some current useful intel to get her alone was something that had to be found fast once this competition was announced.

But he decided to play it safe and knock it out of the park with the last request, the optional one of a pure and innocent smiling face, strange she'd want that, but if it kept him alive then why complain.

As he did so, he knew one-hundred percent that he would only be captured by her instead of tortured and/or killed. Her blushing face gave that away. 'Why is she blushing in the first place?'

"Well then Tatsumi, I would like to offer you something more than just some money." Esdeath calmly reached under her collar.

'Great, if I can get a spot in that teigu user group, then not only can I gain information for the Revolutionary army, but also enact my 'asinine' plan. When this works, Mine will be eating her wor-'

 ***Click***

"Huh?" Instead of a contract or something of the sort, he found a collar that was more like a lock. He tried to pull it off the second she put it on, but it was made purely out of metal and could only be unlocked by a key. So unless he wanted to arouse suspicion in her group or the crowd, then he was stuck with this on.

"From here on out, you belong to me. The needs of your village can be handled soon, but for now, I must speak to you in my personal chambers." Esdeath calmly spoke, as if she wasn't dragging him by a chain she materialized the instant the collar was attached.

"AAH- wait, we'll be alone together?" That would be the perfect time for him to try out his plan.

"Yes, completely alone and without interruptions." At this moment she stopped moving and let him stand. He dusted of his coat, and motioned her to lead the way.

"One thing though," he couldn't help but feel awkward saying this. "Can you take this thing off my neck?" Esdeath didn't even dignify that with a response.

Tatsumi sighed as he reached for his hood, but his hands gained shackles made of ice and stayed firmly at his sides. Letting his face stay exposed to anyone who looked their way. Esdeath wanted to prove that he was hers.

This was gonna be a **long** walk.

 **XxXx**

So this was the room of a mass murdering suicidal sociopath.

"I expected something more." It was standard as could be, no decorations or anything that seemed to be added.

Tatsumi was just free to roam her room while she explained to her team that no one should enter the room no matter the circumstance. Also providing him with the useful information that if he left her room without her being present, that he would be killed on sight. So Tatsumi was left to stew in his thought for the past few minutes.

He almost dived back into his head to see what exactly he signed up for by completing that list. The sound of the door opening stopped him.

There was an awkward silence between them, Tatsumi feeling nervous about his plan, and Esdeath concerned if kidnapping him was the wrong thing to do. But did it count as kidnapping if it was consensual?

Esdeath decided to forgo the tension in the room and just say what she wanted to say. Funny enough, so did Tatsumi.

"I know who you are./I know you know me." Their eyes widened at the reveals.

Tatsumi spoke first.

"Huh, so when'd you figure it out?" Tatsumi would be annoyed if his showing off was seen through instantly. He'd have done all that for no real reason if that were the case.

"Well, you gained my interest when you came in as an unnamed combatant. Though I had suspicions after you beat your first opponent. Using the same method you used against me." Her hand drifted to below her breasts, stroking the location where he managed to land a hit. "It was only confirmed when you revealed your face." Now it was her turn to ask a question.

"Why are you here, any sane man wouldn't dare come close to me after escaping my wrath." Maybe she shouldn't have said that. Didn't really make good relationship material.

He didn't seem to lose his cool. "Same reason you didn't kill me the second you thought I was the person on the boat." Esdeath's brows rose and her cheeks grew bright. He wanted to- "I want to talk to you." ...talk, yeah. Totally why she took him hostage, what girl would be crazy enough to just take the man they like off the street and trap him in her room.

"I know you Esdeath." He kept going before she could comment. "I don't mean just **of** what you've done. I have seen **every** second of your life through your eyes." He grabbed his face and pulled, revealing to Esdeath that he was wearing a mask that looked almost exactly like his face. Just one alteration.

He pointed to his right eye, the one that was the same as Incursio's gem. "When this happened, when I hit you, when I drew your blood. It… affected me. I was given access to your memories, I saw and experienced everything you have. To be honest, I almost got lost in madness, but I couldn't let myself fall into that. I have too much depending on me."

"So you know everything about me? Then who or what-"

"Najenda." Okay that surprised her.

"You said you had access to my past. Then how did you know what I was going to ask?"

"It was a guess, after seeing so much of you, I can guess what you'll do or say next, though I'm still not sure about how accurate I am." He certainly didn't expect to get this collar thrown on him, that's for sure.

"Well, that just isn't fair." Esdeath only had a frown as she moved closer to him. He didn't make any move to attack or flee since her air of dominance didn't hold any malicious intent. "If you have access to my each and every secret." She grabbed his face lifted him to a standing position. "I should be able to see yours." She flashed him a smile, revealing her teeth had sharpened ice at the ends.

Before he could do anything, Esdeath brought his face to hers and mashed their lips together, nibbling on his just hard enough to break the skin and get a drop of his blood.

When Tatsumi regained his senses, he tried to push her away. Thankfully, she complied.

'He's so adorable when flustered.' Esdeath decided she'd try to get him to make an expression like that as often as she could.

"W-WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!" That certainly messed with Tatsumi's cool.

"I told you already. You have access to my mind, so the opposite is only fair."

"But I have a teigu that evolves and am one that pushes things to its limit. Both of them being my blood, how do you expect the reverse to work?!" He hugged a pillow that he had placed between himself and Esdeath.

"Well, if those teigu were in your blood, then I should be able to make use of them like my Demon's Extract. If not at your level, then to at least see what your life was like." She felt her skin burning. "Oh, this is much different from my Extract." Her vision started to warp and she felt tired. Without much thought, she grabbed Tatsumi and placed him on top of her in the bed. Closing her eyes to the kaleidoscope like world, Esdeath drifted off with Tatsumi's face pressed against her bosom.

"Esdeath?" Nothing "Esdeath." Louder didn't do anything. Tatsumi could only sigh, he was out for two or so days before he woke. Though that was since he had to deal with all of Tyrant's memories. So maybe all it would take her would be a few minutes… then again, when he ventured into her mind, he started at about two in the afternoon and woke up at near midnight… well if he was stuck in this death grip of a cuddle, he might as well see why he was in this predicament. With that though, he delved into his own mind. Falling asleep within her grasp.

 **XxXx**

*ACHOO* He looked from side to side. He could feel a disturbance in the world. Wait… no, it couldn't be.

"DID TATSUMI SCORE WITH ANOTHER BABE!?" Lubbock screamed from the training hall.

Though that turned out to be a mistake as he left himself open for Bulat to make a decisive strike and turn him into a ragdoll.

"You know that we're doing this to help you if you can't trick your opponent, so what are you going on about?" As Bulat didn't get a reply, he turned the body to lay on its back.

"Unconscious from a hit like that? We got a lot of work ahead of us."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **As we leave Lubbock to this torment and Tatsumi in a nice… soft… firm… irresistible… I'm sorry what were we talking about?**

 **Be sure to review also-**

 **BIG THANKS TO FANFICTIONHUNTER; he basically Beta'd this chapter and helped with a couple scenes.**

 **Have an Awesome day- N.I.A.**


	11. Demon's Demon

**FanFictionHunter:** Well, now I think you might be Lubba reincarnated into this world.

 **XBOY40:** Here's your nourishment.

 **DeadMenPlaying:** Thank you.

 **WildCard555:** Actually, I wonder if they can have children. If their blood is their Teigu, then won't their child be insane at birth or just have no positive emotion due to Demon's Extract, then again, Tyrant could help out and keep the kid from insanity.

Yeah, I totally thought of that, didn't just come to mind when you brought it up. Hahaha… haha… heh.

Here you go.

 **J.f.w.:** Well it'd be too easy if he just asked her to join him and she just went with him since he could satiate her need to fight. I gotta get her more human somehow, that's why I had her 'break' when her dad died. I said before I was a bitch with death of character's I like, so I don't want her to be a target, so her character needs to change. I'm just an author who likes to do it in (semi-)believable ways.

Well I put the mask there since, as previously stated, Tatsumi wanted to be sure that he truly had all it's power. It basically equates to a nightlite you'd give a kid since they're scared of the dark, doesn't do much, but makes 'em feel better.

Well he didn't have a reason to change his face, he first put it on it was in the company of friends, and with Esdeath, he wanted her to figure him out. So when fighting he can definitely swap it out with a different one. Say he needs to fight a Jaeger, he can copy their face just to freak them out, or do a random assortment of facial features. Really all it needs is a protrusion for his nose, then he could just have it devoid of any features, like The Question from DC.

 **XxXxXxXx:**

Under normal circumstances, seeing death wouldn't have moved her, but this wasn't normal.

She had lived through the seventeen years of life that the young man in front of her had lived through. She was there for each birthday, such a trivial celebration but it could mean so much when spent with friends and family. Every cut and bruise he got from his rigorous training with his teacher. Each scene of his friends helping him gain strength. She even saw the little flirtations that Sayo gave to Tatsumi. Though to Esdeath's relief, Tatsumi was blind to it.

Then they finally left to the capital and got separated along the way.

When they were found, it was a maelstrom of emotion within Tatsumi. The sadness, the anger, the horror. It consumed him as he swung his sword with all his soul and cleaved the girl who did this in two. Esdeath herself was so deep into the scene that she swung her blade with the same ferocity.

She couldn't describe how it felt to join with Night Raid, how they gave him direction and started to fill the hole in his heart.

'If we weren't supposed to be mortal enemies, who knows, I might have actually like to be-' Her thought was cut short as she felt an aura similar to the one she always exuded. It was cold, heartless, and soul crushing. Promising death in the worst ways possible.

It wasn't just similar, it was exactly the same.

She blinked and when her eyes reopened, she was someplace completely different.

Gone, was the forest surrounding her. Replaced by a familiar burning village in a frozen tundra.

Why was she here? She had witnessed this scene countless times in her dreams before, it never felt different. Thinking about it now, she had become completely numb to this scene soon after ingesting her Demon's Extract.

As she knew where her fallen father laid, she marched. There must have been a reason for her to have been brought here now. Especially after experiencing that aura of malice.

With brisk steps, she arrived over a dying body...

 **XxXx**

Esdeath's eyes shot open, her mind reeling from that surreal experience.

She felt something wet on her face. As she moved her hand to wipe it away, she saw that they were tears.

All that she witnessed brought her to tears?

It was strange to feel such sorrow while all throughout her life she had thought herself numb to that emotion. Her psyche had made it so that instead of feeling grief or agony at the death of someone close, she only thought of them as too weak and felt nothing to the lose of their presence in this world. But that sight made her very core shake.

When she realized that she still had Tatsumi on her chest, she grabbed him and held him closer, terrified that she might lose him.

'It wasn't real, he's safe and sound.' Esdeath took deep breaths.

A creak from the other side of the room put Esdeath on full alert.

From a small table and chair sat a being. It was roughly her height and build; that's where the similarities stopped. On its temples were two horns that expanded nearly a semicircle around its head, sharp enough to cut anything that got near the back of its head. The long hair was as white as a blanket of pure snow while her eyes seemed to be pools of nothing, just an empty black void. Skin even lighter blue than Esdeath's own hair. Hands with sharp claws and talons as feet to crush anything underneath it.

It wore no clothes, but it had nothing to cover. It was bare of genitals and nipples.

" _I'm sorry for interrupting this moment, but what made you think you were out?"_ As she spoke, her breath was visible; far too cold for room temperature. With a swipe of her hand, Tatsumi shattered and dispersed into snowflakes.

Esdeath stared in shock as her love disappeared into nothingness.

The demon did nothing as the sword cleaved through her neck. It was unnecessary, the copy of her made of ice just created another head. " _Oh don't get all touchy feely now, you gladly kill others for the spark of war. You've relished their suffering. Why is it now that you are lowering yourself to take another. If you were to fight at full strength, with what we know now, he'd be able to do nothing to stop us."_ Anger grew in her soulless eyes. It was disgusting seeing the woman who dominated her cast aside her beliefs for an inferior being.

Esdeath only sheathed her sword before scoffing. "I wondered how the First Emperor was able to subdue such a powerful beast. Now I see it, your arrogance is far too vast." The demon scowled.

" _It was your underestimating him that caused you to lose that battle."_ Esdeath just rolled her eyes.

"Of course I toyed with him. If I went all out for every battle then nothing would survive. Plus, now he is my lover, I would forever regret killing the man who sparked such emotion in me." At the end of her rebuttal she was smiling and blushing.

Extract only sneered. " _Such emotions only breed weakness. If you let them into your heart then you will end up like your father. Dying to protect the weak!"_

This time Esdeath's eyes were cold. "If you are dumb enough to think the Partas Clan weak, then you couldn't possibly understand the aspects of pride and loyalty."

" _Oh, that loyalty your weakness wants you to betray by joining him?"_

"I have no loyalty to the Prime Minister. I took an oath to protect the Empire and Emperor from all evils when I was promoted to General. I have just let my thoughts of the weak dying and the strong surviving keep me from my duties."

" _And the royal twerp? You know that his head will roll. Regardless of him being ignorant to all the corruption. It is only needed to act as a symbol for the end of the monarchy and instill a government of the people."_

"If it is for the betterment of the Empire, then a different government doesn't change anything to me, but regarding the Emperor." Esdeath placed her hand on the hilt of her rapier. "If they are so adamant on killing him, then they will have to wage war against me."

" _Huh, seems like you haven't become a total bitch quite yet. Just wait, that disgusting hybrid, he'll make you… human."_ She felt revolted just saying the word.

"I see that is all you require." The demon only stared in silence. "Farewell." Oh, she almost forgot. Esdeath grabbed the clone by the neck and raised her high before slamming her into the floor.

As the clone felt pain and coughed blood, it knew Esdeath did something.

"This is my mind, what I will is law." Explaining to the confused demon gave her a sense of joy, but it would only grow. "If you ever insult me or my lover, I will not hesitate to relive some memories in the torture chambers with you as my subject, understood?" This is what Extract wanted, her cold and ruthless master.

" _Of course."_ More pressure was applied. " _Mistress."_ The demon could barely choke the words out.

Satisfied, Esdeath closed her eyes and willed herself awake.

 **XxXx**

The sun was barely rising when she came back to the real world. She hugged what was on top of her even closer, to delirious from that experience to notice it wasn't Tatsumi.

When the smell of breakfast made her start to nibble on what was in her grasp.

'This isn't Tatsumi.' As she realized this, she opened her eyes to see she had a pillow in her grip.

'Man, I can't get over how she can act so cute for being so bloodthirsty.' Tatsumi couldn't help but blush at the scene before him as he stopped midway in setting up the coffee table for the breakfast he asked the guards to order.

As her eyes fell on him she could only ask how he got away from her.

"Oh, well I just lowered my body temperature so you couldn't feel a difference between me and you, and when your grip loosened enough I could slip right out. I, um, ordered some breakfast. Figured you might want something to eat when you woke up."

Esdeath slowly gained a smile as she walked out of the bed and towards him.

"Thank you, I'm famished." She gave him a peck on the lips before grabbing from the assortment of food.

It took Tatsumi a few minutes to calm down, and when he finished, Esdeath answered the question he was going to ask before it left his lips.

"I'll help you in your mission to fix the Empire."

Before Tatsumi could cheer, Esdeath spoke once more.

"Though I have two conditions; number one is the lives of the Emperor and my men will not be taken, and two… after the war is over and the new government is in place… you will marry me."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **BOOM! How'd you like that!?**

 **Tell me what you think in a review.**

 **Hope you had an Awesome Thanksgiving! N.I.A.**


	12. Love or Lust?

**Animefan260/Nebular Reaper:** Thank you.

 **Bloodina The Twilight:** Well you can't really prepare for something like that.

 **J.f.w.:** Somewhat

Well, I think Es is the only one who didn't become insane due to the Demon's influence. Plus DNA is DNA, even if it's all fucked up.

 **XBOY40:** Hey, it pushed on 2k. But yeah, I hope I can make this one longer.

 **FanFictionHunter:** She just gave conditions for the Revolution to gain a solider worth at least a quarter of their forces. If anything they'll ask if their commands are okay with her.

 **Wildcard555:** Well Tatsumi would never cheat on her. It'll even be brought up by the priest/pope of the Path of Peace.

 **Oh yeah, probably should have mentioned that this story passed 50 favorites and reviews LAST chapter… WELL I'M DOING THAT NOW, YOU GUYS ROCK, THANKS FOR GETTING THIS SO FAR! I'll TRY TO GET ANOTHER CHAPTER OUT DURING WINTER BREAK. Though I do have a Fairy Tail one-shot already written, so be on the lookout for that on December 25th. Note, it is much more emotional and smexy than this story.**

 **XxXxXxXx:**

If Tatsumi couldn't make his saliva so powerful it could dissolve bone, he probably would have choked on his food.

After he finished coughing and calmed his blush down. He was barely able to look Esdeath in the eye.

"A-are you serious?" Tatsumi couldn't believe that his hand was one of her conditions.

Esdeath still had a straight face as she continued to finish her breakfast. "Quite, don't worry about an immediate answer though. I'm sure Najenda must send word about my first condition." She took a drink of her coffee. "But, to sweeten the deal, why not allow me to show you what you will have to go up against if my offer is declined? I have a mission for the group I created to specifically combat yours. Come along and watch their power." Esdeath placed her finished dishes on the trolley. "I'll have a guard stationed outside my room to escort you to the meeting." With that Esdeath left Tatsumi to finish his breakfast.

 **XxXx**

When Tatsumi finished eating and put on his face… mask… whatever. He went down to the room, the meeting wasn't going to start for about ten minutes so he was able to converse with the Jaegers.

Wave, a man who was pretty similar to Tatsumi in regards to personality, seemed apologetic due to the fact that his boss abducted him.

Seryu, a cheery, over-the-top, 'Justice enforcer', whatever that meant. Tatsumi realized that she was the one who tried to ambush Sheele, Mine, and Leone when she broke down in a sneezing fit and a dog like teigu handed her a tissue. She called it Koro, so that's what Leone said she was rambling crazily to. While she seemed like a model citizen, Tatsumi had to remind himself that Aria and her family did as well.

Kurome was the only only one who he couldn't get a vibe off of. She just sat at her corner of the room and munched on her cookies. Definitely Akame's sister if their gluttony was anything to go by.

Run was the only one who seemed to have already used to his team's antics despite them only forming a few days ago. He was able to defuse a situation between Koro and Kurome over her cookies in less than a minute.

Bols was certainly strange, though after getting past his intimidating appearance, he was as sweet as a teddy bear… with years of battle experience and could kill you with a single match. He even had a wife and kid. Tatsumi really hoped that the higher ups in the Revolutionary army would accept Esdeath's conditions. He really didn't want to kill these people, they didn't seem bad, just on the wrong side.

Speaking of her conditions, Tatsumi couldn't help but blush. Well, it certainly wouldn't be bad to be married with her. He probably would be the one who cooked between the two of them. If they didn't live inside the Capital then Esdeath would probably hunt daily. Even if she got pregn-ne-ne-ne-ne-

Tatsumi's face was as red as Seryu's cherry-flavored cold medicine. He was serious about this? Well, he **did** see through most of her life, he was there with her at every point, and now she was there for him. There was no one in the world more closely connected then the two of them.

 ***Slam***

All heads turned to the door as the last Jaeger came in.

"I'm sorry for being fashionably late, I simple **had** to finish what I was working on."

Tatsumi decided it would be smart not to bring up he was perfectly on time for the scheduled meeting.

"Dr. Stylish!" Seryu cheered, her and Koro throwing rose petals… when she wasn't sneezing on him.

Guess staying out in the rain all night and waiting to ambush someone who wasn't going your direction wasn't a good decision.

"Seryu, darling, you must get away from me." He lifted Koro up between them as a shield. "I cannot allow myself to be contaminated by your germs."

Before Seryu could apologize, Esdeath came out of the door leading to the kitchen and called the meeting to order.

Everyone calmly took their seats, asides Wave who basically ran to his.

Tatsumi noticed that there wasn't a seat for him, but that was fixed when Esdeath pulled him onto her lap and placed her head on top of his.

"Now that you are all here, we can begin our briefing." Her serious aura wasn't diminished by the silly sight. "Over the past few weeks, trading caravans have been ransacked and their women taken. We have found the hideout of these highwaymen and are now going to mount an assault. The information we've gathered places the numbers of these bandits slightly over one hundred. They have sentries placed in watch towers at all times, are armed at all times, and do methodical daily sweeps in a five mile radius to ensure no one knows their location."

"With such routine and diligence, it's probable that their leader is ex-military. So the strike needs to be fast and hard to keep them from regaining their bearings." Esdeath looked over the table. "Any questions?"

No one spoke.

She smiled. "Good, we can prepare to leave immediately, retrieve your teigu and meet at the stables in ten minutes." It was more for Bols than anyone else, his teigu was the only one that was to cumbersome to have on him at all times, unlike all his partners, so he left it in the armory for safe keeping when in the palace.

As the others stood to leave, Tatsumi was unable as Esdeath kept him in her grip, spooning him for as long as she could before they needed to be in the stables.

'Well, at least her affection comes out a lot better.' Tatsumi couldn't help but think about the horrible moments when she would torture just to feel something other than boredom and inferiority towards other humans.

 **XxXx**

When the group arrived it was just turning to noon. Tatsumi and Esdeath went on a cliff to watch the destruction about to occur while the rest of the Jaegers got into position.

Ran had taken out all of the sentries without any even noticing the others died. Kurome had been dropped off in one of the towers by Ran, with Seryu using Koro to be in the tower diagonal to her.

Bols and Wave stood at the front and rear entrances to the camp respectively, waiting for the signal to strike.

Stylish had summoned his squad of death row prisoners turned lab rats, twenty supporting both Bols and Wave.

When an explosion was heard from within, they all hit at once.

Ran had blown up the ammunitions storage and caused a massive distraction, killing a few people as well.

Those on the inside were either cleanly sliced or full of bullet holes and partially eaten. The ones who took notice that they were being attacked were burned alive or quickly incapacitated. Those that ran were killed by feathers being shot at extreme velocity.

It took less than five minutes for the entire gang to be defeated and the kidnapped women to be found and released.

This show of force was insane, if it were left to people without teigu there would doubtlessly be many casualties on the Empire's side. But these five users didn't receive a scratch, and the lackeys that did were instantly patched up by Stylish's Perfector.

"There you have it, my group took out many highly trained bandits without so much as a cut. Be sure to give this information to your higher ups." Esdeath was happy of the show they put on, this was their first battle as a team, but they understood each other and knew when to strike and who went best together.

Kurome and Seryu could fight in a wide area, but they were also suited for closed quarters and didn't have any protection from Bols' flames. So naturally they went where friendly fire wouldn't happen.

Bols was situated with attacking big areas so taking the courtyard was his best placement, and with Wave having an armor teigu he would be nearly impervious to any flames that might get to close.

Stylish and Ran were not suited for close-combat so they provided support through their own ways. Ran taking a more offensive route, while Stylish called upon his minions.

They all used their abilities to their best and developed closer as a team.

"Yeah, they certainly are a force to be reckoned with." A thought occurred to him. "Though if your terms are accepted, what's to say that they'll follow you in rebellion?"

Esdeath didn't seem to worry. "Nothing, but given Wave and Run's past, they will be all for it. Bols will be happy as long as his family can be protected. Stylish will go anywhere if he can experiment, though seeing as how you wish to change the Empire he will probably turn into an obstacle. Seryu, while ranting and raving about justice, is easy to manipulate and I am certain that she will be able to give us a great advantage with her deep connection to Hekatonkheires. The only one I can't place faith in staying or joining would be Kurome. She only needs to settle the emotions she has with her sister, but if she needs to do so by fighting to the death, then I'm not sure I can stop her."

Tatsumi stood silent for a moment. "Well five definite joins, one on the fence, and one definite enemy. Those are pretty good numbers." 'Especially considering Esdeath could beat everyone else with her eyes closed.'

"So be sure to include this in your report to your superiors." Tatsumi just couldn't believe how lax she was about committing treason.

"Hey Esdeath, a-a-are you sure that you want to marry me?" Tatsumi stared at her feet as he asked.

"Oh, I suppose I never did ask you if you actually wanted to fulfil the second condition. So Tatsumi, while you may have some doubts, know that I will not sway. I do love you and will only be with you." Esdeath did not waver as she lifted Tatsumi's head to look her in the eye.

"We-well, it wasn't like I'm against marrying you." That line caused her to smile. "It's just that, you only met me a few days ago when we tried to kill each other, I know that you went and saw through my life, but I can't help but question 'why?'."

"That's a simple question Tatsumi. It started because we tried to kill each other." His eyes grew wide at that. "You were the only being able to challenge me, possibly as an equal, my past self found a primitive urge to make you succumb to me. Though when I saw everything that you went through, it changed me, it made me see you in a light I never thought before. I admired your ability to continue from your friends deaths instead of just thinking you weak if you didn't. I felt the peace in your soul when you were comforted rather than disgust. I was made more human thanks to you, and I would like to enjoy most of the time I have left, just being near you. And if the two of us were to have children, then I would want to share these emotions you've shown me with them too."

Tatsumi just stood there stunned at her reveal. She just poured her heart out to him and he was shocked at how deeply he impacted her.

With a deep breath, Tatsumi made his move.

This time Esdeath was taken off guard since Tatsumi instigated the kiss. Barely being able to reach her lips even when on his toes. After a second he moved back and started walking towards the Jaegers. Esdeath being pulled along by his hand clasped around her's.

His blush wouldn't settle until far into the night.

 **XxXx**

After getting back to the capital with the kidnapped woman, Esdeath let Tatsumi leave to make contact with a revolutionary connection. So he went as quick as he could without drawing attention to himself to make it to Lubbock's shop.

When he got there it was locked. Meaning he couldn't hand off the info. It was supposed to be manned at all times, but luckily enough, Leone told him all about the crappy window without a lock when she got ridiculously drunk after he explained his plan of making Esdeath switch sides.

As he walked into the alleyway and entered through the side window, all Tatsumi could think about was how great this was gonna be when he saw the look on Mine's face and said that his plan worked.

It took a few tries to open the secret door, Tatsumi originally thought that it would open if he pulled specific books out in a specific order… but then stubbed his toe on a latch beneath the counter on the cashier's side. So much for creativity.

When he reached the bottom of the ladder and end of the underground hallway, he found himself in a Revolutionary army safe-house… that was reeking of booze.

'Leone must have been the one in charge of the shop and got shitfaced while on duty. Probably was out to get more booze when I arrived.' Tatsumi only sighed, looking for some paper to write down a note about what happened and to report it to Najenda as fast as humanly possible.

When he saw the desk and started writing, he failed to notice a bundle of blankets on the couch start to squirm.

"And… there, done." He gave his note a quick look through to make sure he didn't forget anything. While he would have preferred telling them face-to-face, he'd suppose that stories would do.

 ***Creak***

The silence in the room was broken as the floorboards creaked. Within a second Tatsumi turned to the sound placed his arms above him. Catching an arm slamming onto his forearm. As his knees buckled the flooring shattered sending him falling on his back alongside his assailant.

Even on the floor they still tried to wrestle it out for dominance. Due to his evolutionary trait it should have been easy, but they were able to fight back. Though it turned out fruitless as he was able to pin their arms above their head while pressing his body against theirs. Then Tatsumi felt something squishy against his chest and saw long blonde hair with cat ears, causing the dots to connect.

"Wait, Leone, calm down! It's me Tatsumi!"

The person who tried to kill him moments ago stopped trying to buck him off.

"OH SHIT! I'M SO SORRY, BUT WHY THE HELL WERE YOU SNEAKING IN YOUR OWN BASE!?" Leone couldn't help but scream.

Tatsumi let go of her arms and moved back, not noticing that he was still straddling her.

"What the hell are you yelling at me for!? You're the one who's getting drunk down here instead of working at the register!" It started to devolve into a screaming match.

"Well I'm sorry, was I supposed to just waste all my time waiting for you to eventually arrive?!"

"That's exactly what you are supposed to do! Not get drunk and leave your informant waiting!"

"Yeah?! WELL IS THE INFORMANT SUPPOSED TO STRADDLE THEIR HANDLER WHEN THEY'RE NAKED!" It was then that Tatsumi realized that Leone was topless. He had been so focused on their screaming match that he didn't notice she wasn't wearing anything.

With a manly ***yelp*** Tatsumi jumped off her and scurried to the other end of the couch.

"And just why in the hell are you naked!?" Tatsumi had his back to where Leone situated herself, he felt her animalistic presence disappear. He scrounged the courage to turn around and saw she was sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around herself. "And why were you in Lionel before I even came down here?" That just seemed strange to him.

Leone had a blush on her face, was it from their 'combat' or the alcohol? Tatsumi couldn't tell. "Well, I was taking a literal cat-nap when you showed up. I didn't want to get hungover so I used Lionel, whenever I sleep in that form it feels to constricting to wear anything. So I just slept naked."

Tatsumi just stood there and looked around awkwardly at anything but Leone. She felt the same, albeit to a lesser extent. Her eyes widened at the devious plan formed in her head.

When the tell-tale ***WHOOSH*** of Lionel's activation was heard. Tatsumi was surprised to see her walking towards him, blanket still covering her body.

"You know, you were able to dominate this form with ease. Do you know what that means?" Tastumi just stood there, he couldn't make out what look she had in her eye. He had never seen it before, but it made him fear for his life. He wasn't a Lubbock, why should he be punished for an accident like that. Maybe he could make a run for it.

Oh, she had already cornered him while he was having that inner monologue. "It means…"

Leone dropped her blanket. "That this body is rightfully yours."

Tatsumi couldn't form a coherent thought. Earlier today he just made their worst enemy side with them, then declare her love for him, and now, Leone just gave him her body.

WHAT THE FLYING FUCK WAS GOING ON!

 **XxXx**

"Goddamnit, these powers are a curse! Why the hell is it that whenever I feel a disturbance, I can't help but feel it's centered around Tatsumi!?" Lubbock was on dish duty since Leone volunteered for Handler.

"WHY DOES HE GET ALL THE BABES."

Then he heard the refrigerator door close. He turned to see Najenda with cold drink in hand. Seeing his cry to the heaven's. Leaving without a word. Used to the strange things that the vertette said. Completely ignoring his cries of explanation.

'This is gonna make it even harder her to notice me, isn't it.'

 **XxXx**

"L-l-l-l-l-l-le-le-le-leone, now just wait a second." Tatsumi really wished Tyrant had some subterranean evolutions right now, because he was stuck between two boulders and a wall.

Yes the boulders were those… pervs.

She pouted. "Oh, but Tatsumi, Lionel is pure instinct. You subjugated me, so my mind is telling me to give myself to you." She moved her mouth to his ear.

HE COULD FEEL THEM AGAINST HIS CHEST!

"Of course, I could always mark you." With that she licked his ear, claiming him for herself.

Tatsumi just grabbed his ear and started to rub it as hard as he could without yanking it off.

"Leone, you can't just do that."

She picked up her blanket and dismissed Lionel. "Oh yeah, and why not."

"Because I'm already engaged." Tatsumi spoke without thinking.

Leone was quiet for a few seconds, before.

"E-EEEEEEHHHHHHHH!"

"Wait, it's not what you think, it's with Esdeath"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"No, I got her to join our side."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Okay, he's gonna shut up now.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **I honestly planned on ending it at the part where Tatsumi kissed Esdeath, but FanFictionHunter convinced me to keep going… by just saying I should continue till Tatsu said he got Es. Did that, he just didn't do it that well.**

 **What is with me and posting so late at night. (11:04 PM right now)**

 **What would you guys think if I put Tatsu in a harem deal, but not do smut. I might insinuate it, but I am NOT a sex writer. Only smexy scenes.**

 **Well, have an Awesome day… or night. Y'know, timezones and all. Bye.- N.I.A.**


	13. Sunny With a Chance of Hail

**ChaosOmega8** : While she probably won't be in the harem, I definitely want her to fight. Though if the way I'm picturing she'll change works, then she won't be featured for a while after.

Why do people love shipping Ran and Leone? They had literally no conversation or confrontation asides the anime only one… that happen once.

 **EDA** : To be fair, Leone was the only one who was making moves.

 **Guest** : I never decide either, coin flips for the win!

 **XBOY40** : Well I was thinking of making her somewhat like Juvia from EvilFuzzy9's 'Boil' fanfiction.

 **FFH** : To be fair, he always brings it onto himself.

 **SwayOfTheWind** : Many thanks my kind Sir.

 **WC5** : Completely slipped my mind that she could do that, when Perfector is in the hands of someone who wants to advance medical science. That is completely possible.

Well she doesn't want to damage his merchandise. And like what I said to XBOY40, I'll probably make her a bit like Juvia in 'Boil'.

Thanks to everyone who voted. I'll try to do a multipair(1 or 2 more girls), but keep in mind since this is my first fanfic that it won't be the greatest.

Also, for those that don't know 'Boil', basically Juvia was fine with Natsu having multiple girls, but she made sure that they would love and service him with all their might. And that she was the one who got him the most.

 **XxXxXxXx-** beginning/end of chapter

 **XxXx-** Scene change

 **Xx-** time change

 **XxXxXxXx**

It took a few minutes, and quite a few drinks, some alcoholic some not, but Leone was finally able to calm down. With that, Tatsumi explained what happened at breakfast.

"So, you're insane plan actually worked?" Everyone only thought he would gain information about the Teigu group that Esdeath created to combat them. Her switching sides was a secondary objective since it was infeasible. But since he joined, Tatsumi had pretty much made the impossible happen every other day.

"Y-yeah, she decided to change sides after she saw my memories." He still wasn't quite over what Leone just did, but at least he didn't do anything more then just rub his ear red.

"Wait, so aside the fact that you just removed the biggest obstacle to the Revolution. You also gave her every piece of information about us that you had." Oh that didn't sound good.

"Uhhh." Yeah he kinda didn't think about that. "Well you can tell boss to relocate if you feel the need to."

"Well that's definitely gonna happen, like, right now." Leone stood up and walked to a chest in the side of the room, dropped her blanket and bent down to grab her clothes from within. Not showing a modicum of decency.

"LEONE!" Tatsumi only covered his eyes and turned away, his face burning. "STOP DOING THAT!"

"You know," Leone put her tube top on. "With all this screaming," Her pants were next. "I don't think you're keeping this safehouse very secure." She grabbed her scarf and boots and sat next to Tatsumi to put them on.

"Yeah? Well, you're the one who started all this in the first place when you decided to get drunk instead of staying sober behind the register." Tatsumi still didn't turn or move his hands, he learned from the last time.

"Ugh, stop being such a prude." Leone tried to change the subject. "You already saw me in all of my wondrous glory." She finished with a flourish.

"Don't bring that up around Esdeath, she'll kill us for sure."

"Of course… but Esdeath isn't around right now." Leone nudged Tatsumi with her shoulder.

"Stop that, do you want her to stay with the Empire?"

Leone blinked owlishly at that. "What do you mean?"

Tatsumi moved his hands from his eyes to the back of his head. "Well, to join she obviously had a few conditions. I actually made a brief summary of everything over there." He pointed to the paper he left on the desk.

Leone went and picked up the sheet. After a quick read, Leone turned to him and started to stutter. "Fuck-you-her-what-really-marry-Jagers-kill-subjects" She slapped herself to get back to normal. "You seriously have to marry her to make her join us!"

"Weren't you the one who said to not scream here?" That wall was **very** interesting to Tatsumi.

"Oh you do not get to change the subject with me." She transformed and cracked her knuckles. "Your 'Big-sis' definitely deserves to understand what that bitch is thinking." Even with his evolutionary powers, she was fucking scary.

"Le-leone?" Well he certainly didn't expect this reaction. "What's with yo-" As he was pulled up by his collar, he stopped short at her fearsome eyes.

"I told you; you are mine." Those eyes were completely feral, he never saw her like this. Thinking that this was definitely a problem, Tatsumi did the only thing he saw reasonable… grab her arm and inject her with his paralyzing toxin.

With Lionel active, he used the strongest batch he could make. Even then, her grip only slacked enough that his shirt was no longer trapped in her claws. God, Lionel was insanely fast at healing. It could probably fix a broken spine in less than a week.

Knowing that paralyzing and talking her down wouldn't work, Tatsumi decided to go to the root of this instinct.

He used his dangling legs to push himself from the couch behind him into Leone. While the couch skid back, he went forward. Leone landed on the coffee table between the two couches with Tatsumi on top of her.

Her grip gone and being somewhat disoriented, Tatsumi immediately felt around Lionel's belt, looking for a clip to remove the Teigu from Leone.

When Leone was finally able to get a grip on Tatsumi's arms, he had already gotten his hands underneath the buckle. Giving him the ability to effectively make her revert and her grip seem like a light breeze to his evolved body.

"Leone, you in there?" He really hoped she came back to her senses.

She blinked a few times before shaking her head. Her eyes were back to normal.

She took her hands from his arms and rub her eyes. "Ow." Guess falling onto a coffee table would do that to you. "So, did that really just happen? "

"Yeah." This time Tatsumi remembered to get off her waist. "Any reason as to why that happened?" He also made sure to keep Lionel away from her.

As they sat across each other, Leone was the one flustered while Tatsumi kept a straight face.

 **XxXx**

Lubbock put his head out of the window, waiting.

"Is something wrong, Lubbock?" Sheele looked up from her book.

"It isn't falling." That made her even more curious.

"What isn't?" She walked over to him.

"The sky, something that should tear apart the universe happened. By all accounts, the sky should be falling."

Sheele looked around at the evening sky. The sun was setting behind their base -check. The sky was orangey - check. The… huh? "Oh, what about that over there."

Lubbock squinted. "That's a bird."

"That."

"Another Bird."

"That."

"Mine practicing with Pumpkin."

"That."

"The first bird…" Lubbock just turned and started to walk back to his room.

"That."

"Probably another bird."

"It looks a little big for that… somewhat… moderately… definitely… I think that something's coming right for us."

Lubbock trudged back to her. "What are you talking abo-o-o-oh shit!"

A human on a flying sheet of ice is one thing, but it's a whole different one when the person is the deadliest soldier in your enemy's army.

"Fuck! Sheele, go get Najenda, I'll signal the others with my strings." Sheele ran into the base while Lubbock moved so Esdeath couldn't see him through the window.

'Who am I kidding, she can probably feel where I am.' Swallowing that lump in his throat, Lubbock started to manipulate his string.

 **XxXx**

After Tatsumi left, a thought came to Esdeath.

She was going to join the Revolution, but she didn't even know how strong they were. Even the memories that Tatsumi had given her only showed Bulat fighting with all of his strength. And that was against River with Incursio, so now that Incursio was 'broken' that was a moot point.

So she decided to measure the strength of the nearest Teigu users. They just so happened to be Night Raid.

That was the only reason she was flying here, not to intimidate the women there and let them know that Tatsumi was hers and that if they made him do something against his will that she would show them why she's so feared in the torture chambers… God, she was acting like a lovestruck idiot.

She could feel the people beneath her starting to move. Well, she was already here, might as well talk to Najenda and tell her her conditions.

As she neared the base, a golden beam that blended in with the sunset shot at her from the side. Nearly as wide as a horse. But all she did was relax her pull on the ice and let gravity take hold.

As she started to fall, the beam was so close to hitting her that she could feel the heat it exuded.

With even more shots following her, Esdeath had the ice encase her legs so she wouldn't fling off because of her erratic flying.

When she went into the forest, the shots stopped, but being unable to fly made her annoyed. As she broke her restraints she started to walk through the forest.

To her, the strings in the trees and shrubbery were as obvious as black paint on a white canvas.

"Extremely well laid traps that only Generals could notice, this is very promising." Her sadistic smile came back. It wasn't like she was going to kill any of them, but this certainly had potential to be fun.

As she deftly evaded every chord, she could feel them moving, trying to encircle her.

'Very nice, but…' The chord that sliced forward would have decapitated anyone who wasn't prepared for it. 'To obvious.' Esdeath had made a pillar of ice stemming from her shoe, saving herself easily.

As the pillar was cut in two, Esdeath lept off of her collapsing segment and into the trees.

While this was fun, she needed to get back to the Capital before they became suspicious.

With an annoyed sigh she started leaping off the branches, using ice to help propel her forward.

Each string was slightly off its mark as Esdeath contorted herself in ways only an acrobat could.

At her speed, she reached the base in a minute.

It was child's play to get over the wall, but when she arrived, the base was abandoned.

At least that's what they wanted her to think.

Seeing that this was starting to get boring, Esdeath decided to end this so she could go back and be with her Tatsumi.

With that in mind, she walked into the base to tell them about her deal.

 **Xx**

It surprised her that they hadn't set up traps inside their base, but if not here then they had to have done it to where they store their information.

Though since that wasn't her target she didn't really care that much.

She had just made it to the center of the base. A meeting room from the looks of it. Seemed like a good a place as any.

"Najenda!" The name echoed throughout the base. "I have come to give you a deal! Not a single hair is harmed on my men nor is the Emperor at any time during or after this war! If you comply, then you will gain a force equal to an entire Brigade, and her army as well!" She waited in silence.

"I know that the decision lies wholly on your superiors, but if you accept or decline! Understand that I will still take what is mine!" Esdeath turned and proceeded to leave.

When she arrived at a window, she was greeted by a surprise.

Najenda was standing out in the open. A cigarette in one hand and a detonator in the other.

"So, you mind explaining the sudden change of heart, and where our operative is." That wasn't a question.

Curious as to why Najenda was so daring, Esdeath poked her head out of the window. As she looked around, she saw what gave her such confidence.

The base was covered in explosives. And with this many, it would probably cause the mountain above to fall as well.

Najenda could literally bury her under a mountain. Esdeath couldn't help but be excited at the sight.

Her attention going back to Najenda, she smiled. "Gladly."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **I honestly just went to Lubbock to have either him fall out the window or Sheele to, Lubbock save her, ending up at the barrel of Pumpkin since Sheele's dress gets torn and Mine thinks of the worst since she's Mine.**

 **Somehow it lead to Es coming here. Don't worry about Leone, she'll talk about why she did what she did in the next chapter. I just felt it would be an awkward transition to do it from this point.**

 **Have an Awesome day. -N.I.A.**

 **P.S.: I'll try and update within 10 days, but no promises.**

 **Edit: Expect the update on Christmas day. :D**


	14. Domesticated Lion

**FFH:** By the time Es gets back, she won't be able to touch Leone without hurting Tatsumi… moreso then it normally would be.

 **Drew Luczynski:** Of course you wouldn't, she could crush your privates without a second thought.

 **XBOY40:** Well The last chapter (13) and the one before it were 10 days apart, that's why I want it within that time frame.

 **Mailbawx:** *looks at username* wonder why…

 **CO8:** Well who knows, we might get an omake of it.

I have seen more Tatsumi/Lubbock stories than Tatsumi and Leone, so I don't know how close it is there. They are near opposites with very little in common, but they do both want justice for those that were wronged.

Didn't think about 'breaking' *-*... :3

 **Kaizeriflix:** Here you go.

 **XxXxXxXx-** Beginning/end of chapter

 **XxXx-** Scene change

 **Xx-** Time change

 **XxXxXxXx**

As they sat across from each other, Leone was the one flustered while Tatsumi kept a straight face.

 **XxX- NO, that was last chapter.**

"Well what's it matter, that was probably a one time thing. Why don't we just forget about it and go our merry ways." Leone tried to brush off her near sexual assault on her teammate. Even going so far as to get up and attempt to strut out of the hidden floor.

Key word; attempt.

As she went past Tatsumi, he grabbed her arm. When she turned her head to him, he was fully intent on making her talk. Then he saw her eyes change for a brief second.

Immediately, he let go, shot up, and jumped to the other side of the couch.

"There, I knew there was something with you! Now explain." He wasn't going to let this go, he didn't want Esdeath to kill her and she couldn't survive as an assassin for very long if she was being plagued with her animalistic instincts.

Leone grit her teeth. God, this was to fucking embarrassing. "Fine…" She took a step closer to the exit.

"Leone." This was the only time she had heard his voice take such a tone. It made her shiver in her boots.

"Okay, I'll talk, for real this time." She moved back to the other side of the room and sat down. Motioning for Tatsumi to do the same.

"For the past few months, I've been getting a deeper connection to Lionel. But it's nothing compared to what you went through." She paused for a bit to let him understand. "It started with just a bit of extra 'oomph' to my senses. Compared to when it was actually active, the change was nothing, but to a normal human, it would turn a farmer into a seasoned warrior."

"After that, I got a little faster and stronger, I could probably break a stone wall with a single punch." She flexed one arm and patted it with the other. "Though since my durability hasn't changed, I would probably end up breaking a few bones in my hand." Depression lines started to form on her head before she shook those thoughts out of mind.

"As this was happening, I slowly started to get more… feral, instinctual, whatever you want to call it." Personally, she liked Lionel-y. "I did more things that an animal would do. When some jackasses started to mess with people in the slums, I beat 'em up to protect my territory moreso then teach them a lesson." She took a deep breath as she clenched her hands on her lap.

"...And when you came here and joined Night Raid, I felt a need to protect you. That's why I took you under my arm and told you to call me your big sis. But now you've grown into this remarkable figure, you grew so much that calling you my little brother seems a bit insulting." Her face was burning bright.

"While I think my emotions would have grown on their own, Lionel just gave me the push to no longer care about normal societal cues. I just felt the incredible urge to make you see that you belong to me." She shook her head, disgusted at how she tried to make him bend to her wants.

"I'm sorry, Tatsumi. It was wrong of me to try and do that. I just couldn't help myself."

Why did this happen to him, he just accepted the fact that he would get with Esdeath and help rid this world of this disgusting government.

Now one of his closest friends just admitted that they felt something towards him as well, but he couldn't do anything to reciprocate it.

Being with Leone wouldn't be bad, probably far from it, but Esdeath was key in fixing the Empire. He had strived to find a way for her to join his side, her death would weigh heavily on him. Yet hurting Leone like this would be just as bad.

What could he do to make this all right?

' **Good grief, boy, you have created quite the conundrum.'**

Tatsumi's eyes widened when he saw the suit of Incursio sitting cross-legged on the couch, arm draped over Leone's shoulder, not actually touching her.

When Tatsumi started to sputter out words of question, Tyrant eloquently told him:

' **Stop that you idiot, I'm still in your head. You see me here but that doesn't mean I'm physical. You're just confusing the cat.'**

The armor pointed its thumb to the side and motioned towards Leone. The arm phasing through her body when contact was made.

While Leone understood Tatsumi would have some questions, she didn't realize that she wasn't the one who they were focused on right now.

When Tatsumi opened his mouth again, Tyrant held up his hand.

' **I told you, I'm only in your head, you don't need to speak to talk to me. Only thinking is required. Though by your track record, it isn't your strong suit.**

'For a being older than anything in the world. You really are a jackass. Those thoughts work for you?'

Leone was really confused as to why Tatsumi gained a sneering face for a second.

' **Looky here, you actually can use your brain.'** The armor gave a slow, mocking clap.

'Why are you here, I thought that you wanted me to deal with the enemy who I can understand. I did that this morning, so what are you after now?

' **Boy, understand that I am completely satisfied with how you dealt with that demon. I watched the whole thing, when you realized you could truly fall for her and even thought about having kids. That pulled on the strings of my heart.'** The armor rubbed the corners of its eye holes, wiping away the pretend tears.

'You still haven't answered why you're here.' He wasn't amused by the dragon's acting.

' **Eh, ruin my fun why don't ya. Not like I wanted to give you a little piece of knowledge to help you keep this girl while your other agrees to keeping her mind intact.'** Tatsumi almost jumped up and asked what he was talking about… but Leone seeing him do that would probably cause her to freak out a little.

'Explain.'

' **Oh my, the little one is ordering me? Well it's not like I really care, but where'd your manners go?'** One of the eye holes rose, like a brow raising in question.

'Please tell me what you mean.'

' **Thank you, that wasn't so bad. Now listen up, I'm only saying this once… well, do it once.'** Before Tatsumi could ask, Tyrant already moved.

He sliced open his palm and as the blood started to fall, he lunged past the table with his hand held up.

Tatsumi had no idea what was going on as his body moved without his consent. His bloody palm going forward and ending up right on Leone.

Now if this were any other person, such a deed would cause them to run and call the man crazy. But Leone had been falling under Lionel's influence for so long, she could feel the power resonating within each drop. As her eyes changed, she couldn't help herself as licked his palm.

' **And that was it.'** With that Tyrant moved back and flopped down onto the sofa.

"What just happened?" Tatsumi held his hand as the wound quickly closed.

' **I told you before that you don't need to speak aloud.'** The helmet shook left to right. ' **Whatever, you said that you wanted to keep both of those girls happy. Now you can, they are connected to you. If one goes because of the other, then my blood will trigger something in you that will make your mind suffer irreparable damage. So they either share or no one gets anything.'** Why this seemed like a good idea to Tyrant, Tatsumi didn't know. Maybe the beast would be unaffected by the damage and take over his body if his mind shattered.

' **It might sound like your demon will chain the lion in a gilded cage by force, but the fact that our blood has a bit of Extract in there as well can give her a connection to your first lover. But currently, your's and your first's understanding of her is one way.'** He waved his hand in front of Leone's face, she couldn't see him regardless, but she seemed to be spaced out.

' **To seal the deal you and your demon just need to get some of her blood, then if she's harmed by the demon, it can be felt and they will lose their toy.'** A tick mark grew on Tatsumi's head when he heard the centuries old dragon call him a toy.

' **Who knows, if Lionel gets into our blood, then maybe we could use Balzac's ability to fully utilize its cells and heal near instantaneously.'**

"I can honestly say that I have no idea whether I should thank you or cuss you out for this."

' **Well,'** He raised a finger as he started to list off. ' **You're getting more than one woman, both of which are considered beautiful by human standards, are completely capable of defending themselves and you from most any threats, and can provide healthy and powerful offspring.'** Tatsumi blushed at that one. ' **All for your life hanging in the balance if they don't accept the other's feelings towards you.'** Tyrant looked at the fingers held in his right hand and compared it to the one on his left. ' **Seems you got the best outcome for this you could get.'**

"... Just get the hell outta here, you did what you did. Now I just gotta wait for her to wake up to talk to her."

' **You could just take a vial of the lion's blood back to the palace and put some of it in your demon's drink. Or keep it in your mouth and swallow it with her when she kisses you. She gets real rough, if the lining of your mouth wasn't as strong as your original teeth then you'd have a cut in there every time she frenched you.'** Tatsumi did not appreciate that suggestion at all.

"You may not really care about someone's free will to choose, but I do. If Leone is bonded to me and Esdeath because of you. I will talk to her about this and come to a logical conclusion."

Tyrant just stared at him dead in the eyes before snapping. Showing the briefest scene of Esdeath picking out which torture instrument was her favorite.

"... I'll be sure to bring up the fact that if she gets hurt by her then so do I at the beginning of our conversation."

' **That's a little better.'** A few seconds passed before Tyrant spoke again. ' **If you want this girl to be with you when you to talk with your demon, why not just strap her teigu back on her. There's a chance she'll wake up sooner.'**

"And why do think that?"

' **Well there's no logic that would disprove the possibility of that happening.'**

Tatsumi looked at the suit with dead eyes. "Whatever, if it'll get you to leave sooner." He didn't want the Danger-Beast around right now.

As Tatsumi went and clipped the belt back around Leone's waist, he was greeted with a sound.

A low predatory growl.

He tilted his head up and saw she had already transformed, but Leone was currently occupied. So this was just her natural instinct. His gaze went to the left, the Incursio armor was gone.

'Did you know this would happen?' Her eyes were slits as she leaned in closer to his face.

'Tyrant?' She sniffed him and licked his cheek, before…

"Oof." She lunged and kept Tatsumi trapped between her two, nice, firm, embracing… arms.

She was purring and rubbing herself all over Tatsumi's chest.

He hoped she'd come out of this soon.

 **Xx**

Four hours later, Tatsumi woken up due to the stirring on his chest.

After an hour of rubbing, Leone thought she had successfully marked him with her scent. After that, she pushed and rubbed against him until she found a comfortable position on him.

She was much more kitten than lion… Tatsumi wondered if he'd actually prefer dealing with the lion instead.

When she got comfy and fell asleep, Tatsumi stayed awake for a while longer, unable to sleep since it was only around 9:30 when Leone made herself home on his chest.

Boredom and fatigue finally took over at around 10:20 and let him close his eyes.

The stirring grew before it froze, the weight of Leone left his chest… before it came right back on him.

He was too sleepy to talk right now. What happened could be explained in high detail tomorrow. But for now, he just wrapped his arms around his new… girlfriend? And held her close as he drifted back into his dreams.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **You may notice a bit of a change at the part where Leone actually explained her reason and later on in the chapter since I kinda took a break and read everything of Magi that wasn't available on Netflix.**

 **This chapter was basically betaed by FanFictionHunter.**

 **I hope all of you enjoy(ed) your winter holiday. If you want to give me a present then please help me reach that 100 Follower mark (Just 1 more person needed)**

 **Have an Awesome whatever. N.I.A.**


	15. Lions and Demons and Dragons, Oh my!

**Mailbawx:** Well she kinda _has_ to, but as well as connecting to her via blood, they can start to talk and truly know each other when the empire doesn't have its eyes on them… you just gave me an idea, thanks :D

 **Drew Luczynski:** Well I haven't developed a way to remove the bond the three have(well, T and E have it both ways, L has it one, but T and E can have a drink and make it a both ways). So I think it'll stay like this. Don't think any more will be added though, pushing my capabilities as a writer as is.

 **Bloodina the Dictator:** ?

 **Guest:** I know :D!

 **FFH:** I KNOW XD!

 **Kenter(guest):** Well I thought I could put him in some funny and sweet situations between the two of them.

 **J.f.w.(guest):** You review pretty often, why not just make a fanfiction account and follow this story?  
I don't think I'll add any more girls. He might have cute scenes with others, but joining him? Probably not.  
A. No, Tatsumi has Tyrant to adapt and evolve and Balzac to use it to its best potential. The others just have Teigu that alter their blood and merge with their DNA.(Well that's how I made Lionel work when active).  
B. I talk about that later in this chapter, but it only happens if they kill each other, though if they don't share blood and the connection doesn't go full circle. **Then** anyone killing them fucks with him, but basically no one can kill them so…  
C. Just Tatsu, they gotta share or live with the consequences.

 **After you read this chapter, why not check out my account to see my poll. It's about what I'll write AFTER I finish this story.(Brief idea description at the bottom AN)**

 **XxXxXxXx:**

Esdeath strolled down the street as she basked in the glow of the morning. Grabbing an apple from a vendor and tossing a silver coin on his counter. Much more than any sane person would pay. But she was in a good mood.

She took a bite as she thought about how her evening went the day before.

Her Jaegers successfully obliterated a bandit group and showed their strength and teamwork. She had words with Najenda and told her all about what Tatsumi did to her, convincing her that she wanted to join their side. Sweetening the deal by exposing some raids on Revolutionary bases to happen in three days time.

And most importantly, she confessed to the man she loved, and he reciprocated her feelings.

Though speaking of that man, she hadn't seen him since he left the day before. She didn't want to chain him to her… not that way at least, so she decided to let him return when he wanted. But when he wasn't in her bed when she woke up, then she was curious.

After asking her subordinates if they saw him and coming up with nothing more than what she already had. She decided to go to where he planned to go, a quaint little bookstore with a bunker underneath it.

By the time she arrived at the store, her apple was eaten and tossed into the streets.

As she tried to open the door, she bit the apple stem between her teeth. It was locked, and she didn't really want any attention to be brought to her.

Looking to her left and right, she didn't see many people on this street, but that was a given considering it was barely seven and this place was in a less than attractive part of the city.

Seeing as breaking into a bookshop wasn't high on any thief's list, she decided to break the lock.

Grabbing the stem of the apple with her right index and middle finger, she put it in front of the small gap between the door and the frame before swiping her fingers down.

As her fingers came down, between them was a blade of ice attached to the stem.

She then languidly opened the door, the cut lock clattering to the floor.

Figuring she'd be in and out in seconds, she left the door open.

Though she reconsidered when she saw the door to their bunker still wide open. She didn't even need her extreme senses to tell where that would lead. With a wave, her ice formed around the inner handle and shut the door, spreading a bit onto the wall to prevent anyone else from opening it.

She forwent the ladder and just jumped down. It took a few seconds of walking before she reached a door with light bleeding out from the bottom.

She pushed the door open to find a strange sight.

As Tatsumi heard the door open, his red eyes went to the left and saw his… fiancé? (They didn't really get engaged quite yet.)

He moved his head, met with a disappointed yowl from Leone. Her essence dripping from the sides of his mouth.

He quickly wiped his mouth and spoke. "Before you kill either of us, let me explain."

Leone finally returned to her senses when the bloodlust formed and the room turned into a freezer. Her tail and cat ears were on end as she retracted the arm that Tatsumi was drinking from. The wound already gone by the time it reached her side.

"Oh please," She bent to sit down and an ice chair materialized. "I'd love to hear what you have to say." Her eyes promised slow and painful death, while her smile showed no mirth and didn't hide the anger behind it.

"Would you believe me if I said it wasn't either of our faults that this happened?" He could feel the spikes forming in the space between the walls.

"It was Tyrant." He clenched his eyes shut, expecting to have some damage inflicted on his person…

"Explain." Her voice was colder than her ice, it told him to stick to the truth _**or else…**_

He swallowed the lump in his throat, as his eyes sheepishly opened, they were back to their majestic green. "Well, you see,"

 **Xx**

"Share or you die?" That was quite something.

"It's his words not mine." Tatsumi could feel himself on thin ice, and not because Esdeath created a layer on the floor.

He had to stop himself from flinching when she stood up.

"Cat girl." Leone tensed up. "If you truly bring him joy, I will hold back my disdain." Leone could feel the soul crushing power lessen. "However, if you cause my lo-... our lover" She felt like vomiting at the words. "Any pain, you will be in solitude for however long I see fit." If she couldn't break her body, her mind would have to do.

Leone wouldn't take this insult to her pride without throwing her own punch. Swallowing her fear and common sense, she put her arm over Tatsumi's shoulder and shoved him in her chest.

"... And if you hurt him?" Leone was stubborn to a fault, Esdeath actually respected that.

"I'll slit my own throat." Esdeath looked at Leone dead in the eye. "Us killing each other hurts him, but nothing was said about suicide."

"Now hold on a second, don't I get a say in what happens!?" Tatsumi shoved himself out of Leone's grip. He couldn't believe that they weren't even bothering to include him in this part of the conversation.

"I doubt that we'll never argue as a couple, even with shared memories we can disagree. We can do or say things that we later regret, there is no perfect relationship in our world, so don't go and hurt yourself or each other when we can move past it by just talking and understanding each other."

They both looked at him with wide eyes, even though he was younger then both of them, he could still act more sensible than either one.

"Geeze, we both tried to set up these stupid punishments to keep us from hurting you and we did it anyways." Leone sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry." She grabbed him and put his head against her chest, this time over her heart.

Esdeath kept herself from clenching her knuckles at the sight before her. She made a mistake and now this girl was proving to be a better lover then her.

"And… same goes to you to Ice Queen. I shouldn't have prodded you either." Leone looked at her over Tatsumi's head, a cheshire grin on her face. "What are you waiting for? Your boyfriend is being coddled by another girl. Aren't ya gonna show him you should be the only one he needs."

Esdeath couldn't help but smirk at the blonde, she was a very endearing woman.

"I'll show you exactly how outclassed you are, but we still need to finish one thing." She sat across from them as she created a frozen dagger. "Tatsumi said that your link was incomplete, so before we make up for our errors, let's finish what… our boyfriend started." She didn't throw up in her throat, so it was better than last time.

"You have some form of connection with me through Tatsumi as a medium, but I have none of you." She held out one hand. "If you would wish to complete this circle."

Leone still felt hesitant, but if they were both with the same man and soon they would be working together to take down this corrupt nation, she had to show her trust in her.

As her paw grasped Esdeath's cool hand, she felt a prick of the knife against the back of her hand. Though the pain was next to nothing with such a shallow cut and the weapon numbing the area on contact. Plus, she had maintained her Lionel form since the night before, so seconds after the wound was made, it healed.

With her mind made up, Esdeath brought the knife to her mouth and licked the few drops of blood off.

While she felt a rush, it wasn't as big as what happened when Tyrant entered her bloodstream. This was like comparing a summer breeze to an Earth Dragon stampede.

Taking a breath, she was able to compose herself. "Tatsumi, I apologize for my rash behavior. I will remember to take your emotions into consideration before I threaten someone close to you." Given that before she would have done whatever she wanted and dealt with whatever was left in her wake, this was a change in her character. In Tatsumi's opinion, it was for the better.

"Be sure to include yourself in that as well. You said that you would kill yourself, and I don't want you to come to harm either."

Tatsumi stood between them and grabbed their hands. "Both of you, I have a connection that I can't bear to lose. Even if we haven't really been with each other for that long. I know that I want to be with both of you. For good times and bad." He kissed each of their hands. "I just hope that you don't think you made a wrong decision down the road."

"Ya big dummy, what makes you think I'll get sick of you? You're stuck with me for life, so don't go getting sad on me." Leone playfully punched his shoulder.

"I must agree, I already told you what you have done to me and my heart. I don't think being on the opposite side of war would stop me now. You are mine and I am yours." Her gaze ventured away from Tatsumi. "Though I suppose calling this lion mine may be a bit much on the first meeting." Not putting a collar on her new companion? She really was changing.

Leone turned to her and scoffed. "Oh, I don't think you can handle all of this." She sensually swayed her chest and hips in a flirtatious manner.

Esdeath was never one to back away from a challenge. "Really? Well you know that torture requires much finesse, but that use of hands and tools can be used in many more ways then you could think of." Bringing up torture in a sexual manner… huh, this was a first if the memories in Tatsumi's head were anything to go by.

Said brunet couldn't help but smile at the scene before him. The two were talking back and forth, challenging the other and saying that they were better. All the while, they didn't notice that they were still holding hands from when Esdeath held it to receive her blood.

Tatsumi couldn't wait for the Revolution to accept Esdeath's proposal, when this fight was over, the three of them could really start a family and live together.

Seeing the smile that they both came to love on his face, they couldn't fight back their own.

 **Xx**

The trio continued to converse and bicker until the clock upstairs chimed. Apparently Esdeath had been here with them for near two hours. Seeing as how they needed to get moving, they went upstairs to talk about what to do next.

"Well where should I go now?" Tatsumi really didn't know if he should go back to Night Raid, though they probably deserted their headquarters, or stay in the Palace.

"If you are to keep cleaning this city of scum, then Night Raid would be the best, but since I have my reputation to maintain, I would ask you to stay with me."

That ticked Leone off, Esdeath just wanted to have their man to herself, but she wasn't lying when talking about keeping up appearances. She was known to keep what she wanted close to her whenever she could. Not caring about morals or societal norms.

Esdeath on the other hand was openly smiling at the feeling of anger Leone was releasing. "You know, for an assassin, you really aren't that stealthy right now." Pressing the kitten's buttons was so much fun.

"Why you-"

"Girls, I know you want to stay here, but we have to go, Esdeath will be noticed missing and her whereabouts questioned and probably looked into by some of the Prime Minister's lackeys, and Leone, you need to go and see if there are any hits out and check to see if they deserve it."

As Tatsumi talked sense into them. They both nodded in agreement.

Tatsumi sighed. 'Great they were okay with separating and- OW!' Tatsumi opened his eyes to see Esdeath holding one arm and trying to walk to the door, while Leone was holding his other one and trying to get past the counter.

"OW OW OW, I GET THAT YOU GUYS DON'T WANT TO SPLIT BUT I'M NOT SOME TOY!" Just because he was stronger didn't mean that his shoulders being ripped from their sockets didn't hurt.

Ah, such a beautiful relationship.

"SOMEONE CALL THE COPS!"

Such serenity and trust.

"YANKING ME BACK AND FORTH ISN'T BETTER!"

Something rarely seen in life.

"JUST FLIP A COIN FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **I couldn't help myself with that ending, I know that it should be addressed where he's gonna go, but it just seemed to funny to not put in XD.**

 **So where do you guys think he should go, and please say why/what he'll do. It's hard coming up with stuff on my own, so pitch in... please.**

 **Remember to please vote on my poll if you want a say in what I'll do after I finish this story.**

 **Bet's a bet is a Natsu/Mulan Rouge(bisca) oneshot or ministory(2 to 4 chapters).  
** **Spirit of Fire has Natsu as a celestial spirit hybrid.(No real pairing in mind)  
** **Dragon of Summer is my own take on RWBY Tail(not at all like Earth Dragon's variation)  
** **And Dragon's Fate is Fate/Fairy Tail with a high probability of Natsu/Saber.**

 **So please vote so you can decide what I do when I finish Awoken Dragon.**

 **Have an Awesome time!- N.I.A.**

 **PS: Thank all of you who read this story, I can't believe that I actually made it past 100 followers. That's fucking insane. You guys/girls/other beings trapped in those forms, you're the reason I got this big, so let me thank you for it. :D**


	16. Day Off

**Mailbawx/Xboy40/OWay Chan:** Thanks for enjoying my stuff.

 **J.f.w.(guest):** Really? I had no trouble signing up, wonder why you do.  
Thanks.

 **Drew L.:** Isn't it 11 if I put every girl? 2 more Jaegers, 5 more Raiders, 2 Hunters, and 2 Rakshasa girls. Well, 8 if you ignore the girl who Lubbock killed, the one he likes, and the one who became a bug.

 **FFH:** Tatsumi is screwed some ways and royally lucky others… wait, what?

 **Animefan260:** Stuff like this is why I asked for your opinions, though Stylish is still probably gonna be an enemy since he wants to experiment and discover by mutilating and manipulating humans.  
Well he entered the Tourney to get close to Es and make her consider switching sides. He thought he'd get a Jaeger position, instead he got a collar and a straight walk to her bedroom, which was… better(?) than what he planned.

 **WC5:** Answered via PM

 **XxXxXxXx**

Turns out Tatsumi could shed. Weirdly enough, it really helps when two women are trying to pull your arms off. Just let them hold onto the discarded scales while you slide out and run away.

Well, he couldn't run away from the Empire's Strongest and arguably the best tracker alive, but he could rub his arms and look at them annoyed.

"What happened to all that 'don't hurt Tatsumi' talk?" His eyes had tears in their corners.

'Adorable.' Was the primary thought in his girls minds.

"There's a difference between playing and hurting, you'll understand if we ever fight full force again." Esdeath kept a calm front, Leone on the other hand.

"Aw, the big bad boyfriend is crying over having to leave his girls."

"That's not the reason, and I'm not crying!" He quickly wiped his face with his sleeve. "Whatever, I'm just gonna go on a walk, you'll see where I go by where I end up sleeping tonight."

Though they'd rather have an answer now, both girls knew smothering him would be detrimental.

With a sigh and roll of the eyes, the two moved out of his way to let him go.

To be honest, Tatsumi didn't think that would work, but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

He cautiously walked past them, breaking the ice lock on the door, and looking over his shoulder every few steps after he exited the shop.

 **XxXx**

It took an hour before he believed that they actually let him be. After he understood that fact, he still had one question.

'What should I do now?'

He could either go to the Palace and see if the Jaegers were still there, or check out the slums for any signs of Leone.

But he didn't want to just have to work.

Scratching his head, he looked about the crowd and stores for anything to do.

He was thinking about going back to the bookstore to find a comic to read before he heard something.

"Tatsumi! Hey, over here!"

He turned his head to see a strange group. One country hick who was waving at him, an emotionless looking sailor girl, and a girl who had a dog being yanked around on a leash.

It was Wave, Kurome, and Seryu.

"Hey guys, what are you doing out here? No mission today?"

Seryu was the first to respond. "No evil that required all of our focus currently."

"Since the General gave us a free day today, Seryu volunteered to show us around the city. It's the first time we've been here." Wave chimed in.

Well, Kurome's first time being able to actually sightsee. And since she had nothing better to do, she figured this would kill some time… Fine, Seryu said she knew a good sweets shop.

"So where are the rest of the guys?"

"Oh, Dr. Stylish said he wanted to conduct more research, and Run and Bols were given a special task by the General."

 **XxXx**

"I really want to show him how much he means to me, but I don't know how to do that without the possibility of freaking him out. And he ran away from me after I was just playing around with him and now I don't know what he thinks of me." Esdeath laid down on a lounge couch with her hands folded on her lap.

Ran wrote something down on his notepad. "I see." A knock came from the door. "Ah, that must be Bols." He walked across the room and opened the door to see the gentle giant with a plate of steaming cookies.

"Thank you Bols, you can place them over there." Motioning to the end table next to Esdeath.

When Bols put them down he warned Esdeath. "Careful, they're-" She grabbed one and shoved it in her mouth, showing no outward signs of pain from eating something that should have burned the inside of her mouth. "... Well if you liked it that much then would you like to know the recipie?"

Esdeath's brow crinkled before she smiled. "Yes, I think I would." Maybe she could cook him something, she had all of his experience in the kitchen. How hard could baking be when she cooked her game over an open fire every day until she entered the Capital?'

 **XxXx**

"Well I hope she doesn't work them to death." It would have been a joke if he didn't see the actual possibility of that happening.

"The General knows their limits, I'm sure they'll be fine."

 **XxXx- Another instalment of 'Cooking with Sheele', this time, with a special guest.**

 ***BLEGH*** Esdeath spit out the cookie she made. What went wrong this time?

Bols took out a checklist. "You put the oven at the correct temperature this time, so they aren't over or under cooked. You put the parchment paper down, so they aren't stuck to the tray. You evenly mixed and properly beat the dough."

He grabbed a cookie and turned away from Esdeath. When he turned back around, it was gone.

"It tastes perfectly fine. I don't know why you don't like it."

"They don't taste like yours, they're more… bland." She couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

"Oh that's simple, I put my heart into everything I make."

"Well he already got some of my blood, so what should I put in place of that." Esdeath spoke under her breath.

"If you don't think he'll like it like this, you could add a special ingredient. Something that he likes that can meld in well with the cookies."

Esdeath rubbed her chin in thought… That could work, but she didn't want to be so forward in their relationship just yet and have him walk in their room to the sight of her covered in batter and nothing else.

"How about cinnamon, a lot of people like that." Bols was completely oblivious to his boss' dirty thoughts and offered an innocent suggestion.

"... Sure." It was better than what she could come up with.

 **XxXx**

"Seryu is right, but enough about that. We have a free day, let's make the most of it!" Wave's cheering was getting on Kurome's nerves.

"Right! So where do you comrades want to go?!"

"Some notable sights?" Wave had only been at the pier and the Palace. And the Ryuusen was under repair so he couldn't check it out when he arrived.

"Any good clothes store?" Tatsumi hadn't had a chance to change since he entered the tournament a few days ago. His clothes felt to grimy.

 ***Bark*** Koro was hungry.

"A bakery." Kurome wanted to see how pastries from the Capital held up.

"Well, since you three are getting bedrooms in the palace, how about we go and buy stuff to make them more homey. Then we can go and grab lunch from a local hotspot." The dog whined. "Don't worry, we can stop by the butcher's on the way."

 **Xx**

Seryu showed them nearly a dozen different stores. Making sure everyone got something.

Wave got the most, carrying a bag bigger than the fish filled one he brought to their first meeting. When they passed a pet shop, they had to keep him from getting an entire aquarium. He settled on a Beta.

Tatsumi just had a bag filled with his dirty clothes and was currently wearing his new ones. A black leather jacket, blue tee, and brown cargo pants.

Kurome only had a poster tube. Wave saw she wasn't buying anything, so he decided to buy her something he thought she would like. Asking her to not open it so she could have a surprise when she gets to her room.

When they asked why Seryu didn't get anything. She said that she kept her old house in the Capital, only the Jaegers who moved here from out of the area got a new room.

After a few more stops and Wave's bag gaining a few pounds. The quartet and their pupper made way for the restaurant.

"Tatsumi, you were a bounty hunter before you joined our team, so what did you hunt?" Wave was curious about the stories he could tell.

"Oh yeah, did you bring any evil doers to justice?" Koro's stomach grumbled.

"Well, 'bounty hunter' may have been a stretch, I did kill Danger Beasts and get rewards, but they were just in my way on my trip here. I never really got an official request." 'Until I joined Night Raid. Guess you could consider me a bounty hunter in some regard.'

"Really? What was the biggest one you faced?" Wave and Seryu were looking at him like children being told a tale of adventure.

"Biggest… I'd say an Earth Dragon, was about as tall as that building over there." He pointed to a 3 story apartment. "But if you want to know about the toughest beast I ever faced, well it was about a head or so taller than me. Long flowing fur, sharp eyes, teeth, and claws. It could walk on two legs at times, but it didn't really seem interested in killing, just playing." He wasn't lying, she was the strongest thing he's fought, she just isn't a literal monster. 'Don't know if Es will take that as a compliment or an insult…'

"If it was so tough, then how'd you beat it." This time Kurome was the one who spoke, not turning to look at him.

"Well it was because it was toying with me. If it wanted to, it could have killed me in an instant, but it's pride got the better of it and I was able to land a solid blow. Though I wasn't able to kill it, I did leave it with something it'll never forget."

Wave and Seryu just looked at him with stars in their eyes.

Kurome narrowed hers, subtly placing her hand on Yatsufusa's hilt.

Tatsumi only heard a * **click*** and the air being sliced. He jumped back to avoid getting slashed.

"Kurome, what the heck are you doing!" Wave was the first one to verbally react to the attack.

Seryu was about to restrain her before Tatsumi moved forward and put his arm in front of her.

"Don't worry about it, she had no killing intent. She just wanted to test if I was lying or not."

"Seems like you're not as naive as you appear." Kurome sheathed her sword. "I might actually enjoy working with you." A genuine compliment from the black-eyed assassin.

"Well, as long as you don't do that again, I'm sure I can enjoy your company as well." Tatsumi held his hand out.

Kurome stared at it, and back to his face. Switching every couple seconds before she kept walking to where Seryu said the restaurant was.

"Don't feel so down, you are, uhh, just an acquaintance to her at the moment. Give it time and she'll be a best friend." Seriously, how 180 did Seryu's personality go if she was offering a shoulder to a friend when a few days back she was ranting like a lunatic?

"Yeah, don't worry about it. She'll probably be all better after we eat something, so let's catch up." Wave patted him on the back.

"Yeah, if we don't hurry she'll probably eat everything there."

"That's the spirit, let's go!" Wave pointed onwards, getting quite a few stares.

 **Xx**

"That was a good meal. Hey Ser, remind me how you got us to only have to pay for half of what it should be?" Tatsumi was sitting down on a park bench, picking his teeth with a toothpick.

"I stopped a robber from mugging them, killing the owner, and raping his wife." Seryu said with no change to her smile as she used a stick to play fetch with Koro, said dog still having a link of sausages coming out of his mouth and trailing on the floor.

"Right." Wave was near a pond, skipping stones and feeding ducks.

There was a peaceful silence in the air. Even Kurome felt the calmness, while she still never dropped her guard, she lowered it slightly as he back was covered by the tree she was against.

"Get back here, you runt!" The nothingness was broken by a man screaming and running after a little kid.

"Welp, I guess we should do something." Tatsumi was pushing himself off the bench, but Seryu was already running to the scene. Koro in tow and the sausages flying alongside him.

"Stop right there! What heinous act have you committed!" So this is what Leone heard.

Looking at her uniform, the man could tell she was part of the guard. Though it was slightly altered from the norm.

Seeing as the kid stopped, the man grabbed his crossed arm and lifted him by it. Making the fruit fall to the floor.

"This brat stole from my stand. He deserves to be punished."

Seryu was about to speak before Tatsumi put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Look, how much was what the kid stole worth?" He was pulling his coin pouch out.

"A-about 40 bronze coins." Tatsumi dug through his bag and pulled out that, plus a little more.

"Forget about what the kid did. We'll take it from here." The little boy was scared. He heard stories about all the nasty things that the rich did to people like him.

The vendor took the money, picked up whatever fruit was still good, and went back to where he came.

After he rounded the corner the kid finally got the nerve to speak. "Wha-what are y-you g-gonna d-do to me." He trying to stop himself from crying.

Tastumi put the kid's hand up. "This." The kid clenched his eyes shut and waited for the pain.

All there was was a weight in his hand and a clinking noise.

His eyes peeked open to see the huge coin purse in his hand.

"Wh-what?"

"Kids like you going hungry. It's a disgusting sight. You can't be older than nine, yet you have to steal just so you can stay alive." He eyed the boy's hollow cheeks and thin arms. "Use this money, not just on yourself, but if you see kids like you, help them out too. That's all I ask in exchange for this."

"Y-yes, of course mister… ugh, what is your name anyways?"

"Hm? Well it's Tatsumi. T-A-T-S-U-M-I."

"I'll be sure to tell everyone about you Mr. Tatsumi. Thanks for all your help." The little boy ran off, continuing the sprint he originally had.

"Seryu, calm down." He could feel her anger rolling in waves.

"He committed a crime, he should be punished, that's how justice works." She was speaking through grit teeth.

"Well can you explain to me how it's just to let a child starve. Or how if that vendor caught him, he'd have beat him and left him in the streets to rot?"

Seryu only growled.

"Justice isn't black and white. Sometimes the guilty have a just reason for doing what they did. If Koro was dying and the only way you could save him was by stealing something that would make him better, what would you do?"

Seryu clenched her fists, then a paw grabbed it.

"Roo?" Koro stared at her, waiting for an answer.

She couldn't look him in the eyes. "Y...yes." She was turning her back to her ideals, but she couldn't find it in herself to let her best friend die if she could stop it.

"I hope you understand that kid's position." Tatsumi sighed. "I'll get going, don't want to bother you any more than I already have." He waved by to Wave and Kurome. He walked off before he felt something pull on his pants.

"Yeah, little guy?" Koro stared up at him and grabbed one of the sausages he didn't eat. Offering it to the brunette.

"While I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think I can eat it." With a whine of annoyance, the little biped shuffled over to his master and at the remaining sausages.

 **Xx**

Walking around aimlessly really let his mind wander. He forgot his clothes at the park, but when he came back around, they were gone. Either some homeless guy took it or Wave grabbed it and took it back. He hoped for the latter. He liked that cloak.

It had been around three when he left the group. Now the sun was nearly gone.

As Tatsumi meandered, something caught his eye. A very familiar building, even though he wasn't really hungry or thirsty, Tatsumi went inside and grabbed a drink. Ordering a steak to keep the owner from kicking him out.

'Can't believe that this is where it all started.' He was in the bar that he and Leone first went to, when she stole all his money… he should probably get her back for that. Eventually. For now he just wanted to think about where to spend the night.

When his food came, he ate it all without even realizing.

He had been there for about half an hour before two arms circled on top of his chest.

"Hey, little guy. What're you doing out in this part of town so late. Looking to getting robbed again." Her voice was refreshing to hear.

He turned his head to her ear. "Joke's on you. I already gave it away earlier."

When she pulled back to look at him with a confused expression, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Nice to see you, Leone."

She rubbed her head against his. "Nice to see you, too. Now about that money thing."

"I gave it away to a starving street urchin." Leone smiled at him.

"That's sweet and all, but how are you gonna pay for that." She pointed at his plate.

Tatsumi thought for a second. "Wait here." He got up and walked through the crowd to the bar. "Can I get a bottle of sake?" He put his hand in his pocket. "Here's the money for the food, how much for the drink?"

"20 bronze."

"Got it, here." Tatsumi went back to their table, booze in hand.

"Milady." He poured her a cup.

"Damn, who knew you could pickpocket like that." It was actually kinda hot.

Tatsumi smiled as his hands appeared in front of him. "Invisible hands and assassin training can help."

"So, how'd the rest of your day go?" She wanted to know what antics her boyfriend got himself in.

"Well it started about after an hour I left you two."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Actually, Legitimately Beta-ed by FanFictionHunter. Not basically this time.**

 **Not much in terms of plot progression, but I think I did well in the interactions between Tatsumi and the Jaegers.**

 **In other news, 3 reviews to 100… ;LSAHFDAHSDF;JWF ADHFJA ;LDFXNAFDV A;S DLKANSD;FLMS… sorry, might have gone crazy for a second there.**

 **Let's see, we need to get Stylish to attack to get the ball rolling, so I think I know what Leone will say happened during her day. Also, since the last 4 or so updates have been 10 days apart, I figure that's a good span of time to try to do it every other week, so expect the next one on the 25th.**

 **Side note: Only 13 people voted on my poll. So only 13 of you actually WANT to voice your opinion even though this fic passes 100 followers?**

 **Well, hope you have an Awesome day/night. -N.I.A.**


	17. Live Bait

**Drew L.:** Oh, she'd kill him outright.

 **FFH:** She makes a solid 8/10. So Kurome would definitely eat them.

 **CO8:** "And how does that make you feel?"

 **Mailbawx:** Well he can just alter his biology to make him not allergic to anything.

 **WC555:** I hoped people would find it sweet.  
And, pray tell, how do you know that?

 **Animefan260:** She took 'put your heart into it' a bit to literally.  
Don't use homo as an insult, else Bulat will wreck your ass.(If you're wondering what way… yes.)  
Tried to PM you, but you have it off in the settings. I'd say check it out, it's decent, but it kinda gets worse after Tenrou Island arc.

 **F-L-C W F:** Answered via PM. Though I can make an, after everything is done, non-canon(unless everyone wants it to be) epilogue… Actually, if anyone wants, they can make a smut scene and send it to me, if it's good I'll use it when the circumstances fit… or have Leone with a raunchy dream of it.

 **Guest:** Thank you.

 **J.f.w.:** Well you now know that every 10 days is my upload speed(even though I basically finished this chapter on the 21st…) So you can just check in on my story then so you don't have to guess when.

 **IT'S OVER 100! YEAH XD! Thank you guys for giving me 100+ reviews. Now the next stop is over 100 Favs, and then, ZA WARUDO. Wait, this isn't Jojo's… F* &!**

 **XxXxXxXx**

"So you met that crazy chick and she turned out to be a big titied police girl?" Leone found something to read when she waited for orders after her boyfriend and girlfriend left the manga shop.

"Well she _was_ a police girl, now she's a Jaeger."

"How did you become a jaegermeister?" A cricket chirped.

"... Do I even need to say how bad that was?"

"Screw off." Leone playfully shoved him.

The adorable couple was currently stumbling through the streets. Well, Leone was. Tatsumi didn't drink while Leone had a LOT.

"Where are we going again?" Leone scratched her head and spun around to look at what was around her.

"You're gonna throw up if you keep doing that."

As if foretold, Leone stopped and clasped her hands over her mouth.

Tatsumi put a hand on her shoulder and helped her walk.

"I'm taking you back to the safehouse so you can sleep this off." 'And then I'm going to the Palace. I gotta tell Es about that man you found.'

"Right, right." Tatsumi was 90% sure she wasn't even listening to him

"Look, it's right up ahead."

Leone had to squint and focus to read the sign. "Oh hey, it's the store."

"Yeah, now let's go inside and get you to bed."

He carefully walked his girl through the store. When he reached the hatch, he picked her up like a bride and jumped down.

"Weeee!" Leone seemed to enjoy the pampering and the jump. Raising her hands into the air.

"Calm down. I'll tuck you in, but you need to sleep."

"Fine, but you owe me another date and~ a goodnight kiss." She puckered up and raised her head.

Tatsumi blushed as he put her on the couch. "Fine." He kissed her forehead.

"Huh? What weak shit was that. Come 'ere." She grabbed his shirt collar and mashed their lips together, pushing her tongue into his mouth.

Half a minute later, Leone let him go. "Now **that** was what I wanted, understood?"

"Ye-wha-sur-why-ahhhh!" Tatsumi slapped himself. "I get it, but give me a warning next time." His face felt like it was steaming.

"Nah, where's the fun in that." She caught the blanket he threw at her face. "G'night." She bundled herself up and started to snore.

'At least she willingly went down.' Tatsumi sighed. 'Now to go tell Es what she told me.'

 **XxXx**

Tatsumi had mixed feelings about Esdeath giving a sketch of him to the guards at the gate. Sure it allowed him to enter without an ID; No one wanted to go against Esdeath's orders to let him in. But it gave his face to everyone who worked there, granted they see hundreds of faces each day and his would become blurred easily. That didn't assure him that much.

After asking a guard who seemed to be falling asleep on his spear directions to Esdeath's current location, he arrived at her bedroom.

He went in without knocking… while normal people would call it a mistake, those like Lubba would say it was good luck.

Esdeath's rear was facing him, her fingers around her underwear's elastic band. Having just pulled it up when Tatsumi entered.

"Tatsumi, be a dear and close the door when you come back to your senses." The Capital's Strongest knew that her lover was behind her, she felt him when he first entered the palace. Though she was in the middle of a shower when he arrived, so she just decided to finish up.

Using the towel on her shoulders to pat the remaining moisture in her hair away, Esdeath put on her favorite cap again.

Seeing as Tatsumi was still frozen after ten seconds. She decided to close the door on her own.

When she turned back, she dragged her man to the bed and sat next to him.

"I heard you had a fun day with my Jaegers." She glaced at the outfit he had. "Not what I'd pick, but not bad."

…

"You know, having seen each other from birth to present. You think you'd be fine seeing me partially naked after you've doubtlessly seen me completely naked countless times by now." She cracked a smile. "Though I suppose I should be happy that this still has such an effect over you."

"Well, since I complimented your look, what do you think of mine." Esdeath stretched her arms behind her head and pushed her cleavage into her slightly unbuttoned button-up.

Tatsumi finally found the ability to speak.

"Stylish."

"Really? I didn't take you to be one who liked these things."

"No, not that, I have to talk to you about Stylish."

Esdeath stopped playing with him.

"What would it be, specifically?"

"The group told you that I just went on a walk to wait for Seryu to calm down, right?"

"Not exactly." When Seryu came back, she went to the kitchen and started eating a bucket of ice cream. Mumbling to herself about 'stupid Tatsumi', and 'stupid evil doers' while Koro patted her leg. Wave and Kurome just went to their rooms to set them up.

"Well, when I did that, I met up with Leone in a shady bar and we talked about our day. I told her about my shopping trip, she told me about what happened when she tried to go to the base to find out where everyone went." Esdeath made a 'go-on' motion. "Well, when she got into the forest, she was finally able to get her tail to reveal itself."

That surprised her, a tail? Who could it have been able to keep up with that lion and manage to stay hidden. Well, apparently they didn't do a good job at that second part.

"She could feel it when she was going through the city. So when she was on her way to the base. She tried to ditch 'em and ended up actually making contact... She described it as some weird lizard man. It wasn't like that bull guy I fought in the tournament either, it was more 'manufactured' as Leone put it. It's scales being different patterns and patchy throughout its skin. But the real challenge it gave was that it was like a chameleon. Changing colors to blend in and even having that long tongue." Tatsumi pulled something out of his pocket. "And while a lot of people could be using Stylish's monsters, this one had his personal seal on it." Leone had ripped this emblem from off the clothes of the beast. She figured that Tatsumi and Esdeath could find out who specifically did this.

"I think he followed you since he was suspicious about you letting me go." Esdeath was actually right about keeping up appearances, go figure. "But since you didn't feel anything, he probably waited until you stopped moving, like when you got to the safehouse, and decided to hide his presence and tried to follow someone you met."

"I take it, if you were followed you would be holding another emblem, but Stylish wouldn't leave a target out of sight. So I think I might know why my Jaegers 'stumbled' into you." This was quite an interesting turn of events.

"What do you mean?" Who would be reporting to Stylish?

"Seryu has received many surgeries from the mad Doctor. According to the medical records I looked at when viewing my candidates, she has hidden weapons implanted in her body."

"What!? Like a needle or some type of blade?"

"Honestly, that might be more painless to have." With a wave of the hand, an ice Seryu was created." Right above her elbows, she has compact single-shot guns." The double raised its arms. The forearms shattered and the gun barrel came out.

"That's… that's disgusting." He had seen what Esdeath did when she wanted a rush, but to willingly deform yourself like that, it was horrendous.

"Oh, but that isn't even the icing on the cake." The ice clone gave him an open mouth smile and a barrel appeared. "She's given up her upper chest cavity and sense of taste to have another one." Even Esdeath knew the pleasure of a good meal and, through River's cooking, the horror of a bad one.

Tatsumi forced himself to keep his dinner down. "So he used Seryu to spy on me, that chameleon to get Leone, and you, he isn't dumb enough to try that." Tatsumi ran a hand through his hair and kept his gaze away from the gun girl.

Seeing her partner's obvious displeasure, she removed the fake. "That means we need to confront Stylish as soon as possible. He isn't stupid enough to leave the Capital in a way anyone would notice, but I… acquired the location of his closer labs from past interactions with some of his 'customers'."

Before he could ask about the details, she continued. "So if she was being followed, where exactly is Leone now?"

"Right back where the day started."

"What? Why would you take her back to somewhere the enemy had prior knowledge of already?" Esdeath wasn't worried, but she was curious.

"I never said that she was alone." A grin was on his face.

 **XxXx**

He had just waved his hands to rid his instruments of blood when he felt his nose tickle. He tried his best to ignore it and focus on the cool scene he had just been a part of. This creep was spying on the outside of his shop and thought he could get away with it? Not on his watch. Oh yeah, and Leone was in there too, but his attention was more on his secret stash than anything else.

As he gracefully landed on the floor, his nose twitched again.

"A-a-ah-CHOO!" Completely ruining his style, he let out a loud sneeze. But that was the least of his worries.

"AH, a peeping-tom!" He turned his head to the left to see a woman in a window. Only wearing a towel…

"Wait what?! I'm not peeping!"

"Who the hell's got the nerve!" The door behind the woman opened to show a muscular middle-aged man with a metal pan in hand.

Figuring it better to just run, that's what he did. But not without company.

"Get back here you pervert!" The man had jumped out the window and was following him.

"I told you I wasn't peeping." Somehow the man was able to keep up with his highly trained body… fine, decently trained. Maybe Bulat was right about the junk food. He didn't have much time to think about that however, as a stone was aimed for his head.

Seems the man had some friendly neighbors since they joined him on his mission.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck."

 **XxXx**

Mine put her scope down and sighed in disappointment. "Goddamnit it, Lubbock."

"What happened?" Leone was bait, Lubbock dealt with anyone trying to close in on her, and Mine was reconnaissance and to take a shot when Lubbock needed help. If she needed to do so, she would move from point A, a bell tower roughly two miles from the store, to point B, a clock tower three miles northeast, with Sheele as protection. Akame was acting commander, so she was looking through all the requests they took. Bulat and Najenda had left immediately for a main branch after Esdeath left.

"You remember that operation a few months back, the one with the bathhouse?"

"Oh yeah, my skin felt so smooth afterwards."

"What else happened?"

"Lubbock fell into the woman's pool to get the attention of the target's guards and let Bulat kill him without getting caught."

"And what happened to Lubbock?"

"The girls tried to rip him to shreds and he made it to the meet up point with his jacket torn, hair a mess, and panting like a dog."

"Good job remembering." She patted Sheele on the head and the airhead smiled.

 **XxXx**

"So she made contact after making it back to base? How?"

"Well, it was abandoned when she got there, but they left a special scent marker. Even the best dogs you have wouldn't be able to discern it. Just goes to show you the power of Lionel."

"So you made a trap that will snare a few lackeys, but you need to take out the brains."

"And I need your help with that." Attacking a subordinate was too left field for Esdeath, but he had to ask.

Esdeath knew that this problem would arise, she just wished it was later rather than sooner. "I will tell him my real agenda, if I detect a single movement that suggests he will betray us, I will shatter him." A dead subordinate was better than a disloyal one.

Tatsumi couldn't help breath a sigh of relief. "Thank you." He tried to get up but Esdeath held him back.

"To reach the closest laboratory, even leaving right now, would take until morning by foot. So, why not sleep first and let me get us some better transportation?"

"But Stylish-"

"Is hiding in a hole somewhere, where we can easily find him." She laid down and yanked Tatsumi into her chest, just like the last time they slept together. "You gave that Lion company last night, now you're giving me some."

Tatsumi wanted to resist, but he knew it was pointless. "At least wake up early."

"I'm a military leader, if I don't wake up before the sun is rising, then I'm sick or… whatever you call what happened two nights ago."

At least he had some consolation.

 **XxXx**

Lubbock was gasping as he leaned on a wall. His pursuers had been shaken and he could finally take a breather.

 **!**

Lubbock's head shot up as he felt something.

"Come the hell on. I get chased around for peeping when I didn't even see any private skin and Tatsumi gets to sleep with that Amazonian. Fuck you, God!" I don't appreciate that remark, so...

"There he is!" The mob had found him once more, his shout leading them like a beacon.

"Ugh, fuck you for this fate God!" Lubbock booked it once more.

Though it seemed like the mob grew in size, as a few members of the Capital Defense Force joined in the manhunt with some tools of their own.

"SERIOUSLY, DOGS!?" His legs felt like they were on fire, seeing no other possible exit, he jumped off the bridge they were passing and swam through the water. Using his strings to pull him far away. He stayed under for ten seconds before he came out, coughing out the water that got through.

"So... mind explaining what happened, or should I hear it from Mine?" He could hear Akame laughing behind her monotone voice.

"I-i'll talk just, just give me a second." Her hand appeared in front of his vision and he grabbed it.

Pulling himself up, Lubbock had one thing to say before he started. "Please don't tell Najenda about this."

"... No promises." Akame was as ruthless as they come.

"Um, I think there's a candy bar back at the store you can have."

She moved her fingers over her mouth in a zipping motion, locked it up, and threw away the key. All with her eyes sparkling.

Lubbock sighed at his luck at having a glutton as a friend.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Tatsumi is whipped, and it hasn't even been a week yet.**

 **Betaed by the usual suspect... No not Kevin... no not the guy who did the crime... It was FanFictionHunter, jeez you guys are bad at this.**

 **Sorry for the late update, almost forgot to do it myself. Should probably set some type of reminder so this doesn't happen again... HUNTER, get on that.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter, have an awesome day/night.-N.I.A.**


	18. Ambush

**FFH:** Please, when am I spontaneous… I thought the fireworks would go off by no- ***BOOM***

 **DL:** He's comic relief, so not anytime soon.

 **Mailbawx:** Thanks, now I know how to start this chapter.

 **Animefan260:** Yeah, I don't remember the anime ever bringing it up, but I know about it from other stories bringing it up and finally reading the chapter where they appear. It was in only one panel, but it gave a little bit of character to those guys… aside murderous fucks who would kill themselves without hesitation if Esdeath asked them to.

 **CO8:** I was thinking moreso broken up GF rather than Tsundere.  
Well the last 5 chapters have been all ten days apart, so at least it's consistent. I'm glad you think the picture fits.

 **Zesterios:** Dammit, now I want some!

 **J.f.w:** Well Seryu was all the way in the Capital, so it's not like she traveled all night without sleep to get there before Tasu and Es.

 **Over 100 favs now! You people fucking rock :D… So what should I aim for now? I can't conquer the world with a 100~200 person army, but what could I take over with that number? Also, what do you think of the picture I put up for this fic?**

 **Side note: I've been putting some OC creatures in here since the series talks about Danger Beasts as big bad monsters, the highest tier ones being made into teigu, but they only showed a few throughout its run-time (I don't count the final battle that had a battalion of land and air creatures fight since it was only in a single page). So if you got ideas for some beasts, I'd appreciate it if I could use them. I made a creature that Es… well she turned it from killing machine to pet… that can still murder when she orders it.**

 **Since FanFictionHunter had trouble understanding that I did a flashback, I've decided to post this at the top of the chapter so you readers won't forget.**

 **XxXxXxXx-** Chapter start/end

 **XxXx-** Location and/or time change

 **Xx-** Time change

* * *

 **XxXxXxXx:**

The silence in the abandoned town was broken by a loud creak and shattering of wood.

"Esdeath, what're you doing?" Tatsumi looked around the corner to see his fiance's foot surrounded by the splinters of what broke.

"Nothing dear, just felt the urge to break something." Specifically a mailbox.

"Well, please stop playing around, we've been here for over an hour and we still don't know where the entrance exactly is." A neigh signaled them about upcoming horses.

"They finally got moving. What took them so long?" Tatsumi had no idea who Esdeath spoke of. He was with her the entire time he was awake, and they left right when he woke up too.

 **Xx**

At around seven, Tatsumi woke up to find Esdeath having already acquired their transport, one big burly horse. Taller then any previous ones he'd seen, it's legs were strange, it had so much muscle that it was breaking through its skin. The head was more like a moving skull, as it lacked skin, yet the cloudy eyes blinked and his chest showed signs of breathing.

"Since it has no real name, it's only been known as 'the sign of death' by a town around a month's walk to the north-west. It came and then soon after, an entire hunting party was killed, each one by a different Danger Beast. Or so they thought." Esdeath calmly grabbed the bucking animal's head and it stilled.

"Show your master what exactly you can do." With a whinny, the horse slammed its head into the wall, cracking its face. With another cry, the bone started changing shape, twisting and contorting to create a set of deadly antlers on its head.

"Okay, shift." It slammed it head again and the horns changed position, length, and width.

Good. Now, revert." With a snort, the monster shoved each horn against a wall, pushing the bone back into its face.

"Each hunter was gored in a different way, leading everyone to think this beast could call other Danger Beasts to it. As such, it was labeled a Danger Beast and ordered for extermination, Liver brought a report of the failed hunt to me, no soldier was spared. I figured he would be a fun pet to tame. Now, while he still has complete disobedience when I'm not riding him, he is the fastest land animal I own. Meaning getting to where I think Stylish is should now take half an hour at the most." She saddled up and as she was trotting out of the pen, held her hand out to Tatsumi.

He knew where this was going. "Is there nothing else that's just a bit slower than this?"

Esdeath rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's prudishness; she and the lion would definitely need to free him from that. "The only other thing remotely close is a flying animal, and getting this beast already draws attention." If it was something that flew, that would raise too many red flags. "Luckily for you, I rode this monster quite a lot during my siege of the north, so only learning of the beast itself caught some higher-up's eyes." She moved the reigns to make the monster sprint forward as she grabbed Tatsumi by the collar and put him between her and the horse-beast. Explicitly pushing her chest against his back so he couldn't not feel them.

Tatsumi was red for the entire ride over.

When they finally arrived, Tatsumi was surprised that it was a quaint little village. It was strange, he never saw this place on the map he used to get to the Capital. From his knowledge, the closest town was still a few dozen miles away.

"Hey Esdeath, where exactly are we?" They had started to walk through the dirt roads when their steed slowed down tremendously.

"This place once had a name, but I didn't bother to find out what. I don't see the use in knowing that." She was looking left and right. The lab was supposed to be in the area, but she had no idea where.

"Well, do you know why no one's here?" This ghost town was reminding him of when Zank got the drop on him. Not a fond memory.

"Every now and then someone either disappeared in the middle of the night or was struck with an illness no one could cure. People saw that these epidemics only happened here, so traders didn't come, meaning that they had no form of import or export of goods. Many people left soon after, those that didn't… Well, Stylish was able to procure many test subjects since this area was so undesirable."

Tatsumi scowled, such disregard for human life was sickening.

"Here we go." The duo had made it up to what looked like a saloon. Esdeath was able to get off without moving Tasumi and started to tie her horse to a post. Dropping a huge block of ice in the drinking trough.

"Now we can leave him here and search inside of the buildings as well." She knew it could break away from that post without even trying, but it didn't want to disappoint its master… that and the fact she would kill him without a second thought if he disobeyed.

"Yeah." Tatsumi jumped off the horse. "So, we should split up to search faster right?"

"I don't see why not, nothing is really a match for either of us. So, meet up back here in one hour."

 **Xx**

That's how they got here, so how did Esdeath deliver a message to someone they would trust? Once more, who is it that they trusted?

"Stay." Esdeath kept the demon horse from trying to impale the two cloaked figures coming towards them.

"So, who exactly are you guys?" Tatsumi usually had more poise than that, but it was a hot day and he just wanted to find Stylish and get some shade.

"Hm? Tatsumi, it's us." Her dainty voice exposed her immediately. "Sheele an-AH!" The air head had lowered her hood and was introducing herself and her companion. But when she tried to dismount the horse as well, she got her foot caught and face planted on the floor.

Well, she would have, had Tatsumi not grabbed her cloak and kept her face clean and pain free.

"Careful there, we don't want you to end up hurting yourself." Well, everyone but Esdeath wouldn't. She was still trying to gain emotions towards anyone, asides Tatsumi, though Leone was getting there due to the little rivalry they created between the other.

After Tatsumi helped Sheele free her foot from the stirrup, he turned to the second person, only to see they went straight into the bar they were in front of.

Before Tatsumi could ask if it was who he thought it was, Sheele spoke once more.

"So you're Esdeath? I didn't think you'd look so pretty."

Esdeath wasn't sure to take it as a compliment or an insult, but for Tatsumi's sake, she decided compliment. "And what did you imagine me as?" Esdeath had seen Sheele through Tatsumi's memories, so she had a good idea on how this conversation would go.

"Like this." A thought bubble appeared near her head, showing a blood covered demon with sharp claws and teeth, towering above houses as a fifty foot beast. The blood lust it released actually caused the environment around it to warp into spikes and monsters to be birthed from its flesh. Also a smaller bust that was the cause of her evil nature, like Mine.

Esdeath stared at the woman who pointed to the side of her own head. "Sheele, you do know people can't see your thoughts, correct?" It was strange to have to explain that.

"Oh, yeah. Well just something really different." Esdeath didn't want to pry any further, that conversation took a good amount of willpower to keep herself in check.

"I'm glad I can see you after so many days." Tatsumi really was, he hadn't made contact with any of his friends, aside Leone, since he went to convince Esdeath to switch.

"How long has it been? About four months?"

"What? It was three days ago."

"Yeah, but the last scene we were both in together was published on October ninth."

"Sheele, it's summer, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, you innocent child. You may one day understand."

Esdeath was now legitimately curious at what this girl expected her to look like.

"Well, why were you sent along here?" Maybe she could explain what she would help the party with.

" _I'm here to get more screen time and the writer thought that he was using Lubbock too much, so he decided to use me since I was getting the least screen time out of them all, plus he likes me more than Mine."_

"Sheele. Sheele, you in there?" The girl blinked and shook her head.

She tilted her head with a "Huh?"

"You need to talk out loud when you want to explain stuff to other people."

"Right, so Lubbock is resting after running from an angry mob, Mine is dealing with some targets alongside Akame, and Bulat and Boss went to the big H.Q."

"Okay, but what did Akame tell you you could do here to help?"

"Oh, this." Sheele's hands fiddled with the knot she had on the rope holding Extase on her back.

A few seconds passed before she frozen and spoke again.

"Tatsumi, could you help me out?" Normally, asking someone to help undo a tight knot is perfectly fine. Though it isn't normal when the place of the knot is firmly between two breasts, your girlfriend is five feet away, and she could kill pretty much anyone without any trouble.

"Wha-Sh-Sheele, just think for a second." She had already grabbed one of his hands and was pulling it closer to her chest.

 ***Thunk* *Vwip* *Thud***

A sharp shard of ice was stuck in a post, the rope had been cut and slid off, and Extase fell on the floor.

Seeing as there was nothing she needed help with now, Sheele let go of his hand and bent to pick up her weapon.

Esdeath was letting out steam as her cold breath clashed with the hot air, calming down slightly by holding her man close.

Sheele had finally gotten her weapon out and was about to explain when there was a big rumble throughout the area.

"Earthquake?!" Being in such a town could cause some damage if the buildings fell, but all of them were outside so it would be-

"AAAHHHH!" Right, they had a fourth member.

The three rushed in to see a bunch of bottles rolling on the floor, as well as their fourth companion holding a beam with one arm.

"Will you let go of the booze!" Tatsumi knew she could get out on her own, but he still went and helped hold the log.

"But it's a vintage whiskey. Do you know how drunk we can get from this?" They shoved the wood forward and Leone grabbed another bottle from the floor.

The shaking continued to grow worse, the building started to break apart even more. "Crap, everyone out."

As the quartet escaped with no damage, they all coughed as the fall of most of the buildings in the town raised a huge layer of dust and dirt.

The quake continued to happen while they wiped their eyes and covered their mouths. It was hard to tell how much time passed, but it finally stopped.

With the air being so thick, Tatsumi reopened his eyes, having created a protective layer on them to block debris.

He felt the urge to ask where everyone was and if they were all right, but he could feel them around. Even the monster that Esdeath and him had ridden here, the ones the Raider's brought having ran away when the natural disaster took place.

He was about to chalk it up to mother nature at least, that was until he heard a ghastly groan that echoed all throughout the remains of the town.

"Esdeath, make a floor!" Tatsumi heard a slapping sound and then was shot straight up past the blinding layer.

To his left, Sheele on her butt and Leone on all fours. To his right, Esdeath was bent down with her hand on the floor. To his front, a massive humanoid monster that seemed like something from Attack on Titan. Behind that was a horde of smaller similar looking monsters with various numbers on their left shoulder.

"Fuck."

"Well, if you don't like that, then don't turn around." He let out a sigh and saw what Leone meant. A horde equal in size had flanked both sides.

"How did no one sense them?" Sheele wasn't the best at feeling the enemy's location, so often times others were tasked with that.

"They're not giving off anything, malice, hunger, bloodlust. Hell, nothing positive either." That was, until a monster in the center of their respective legions roared like a banshee and started shoving the ones near it. The quartet expected a stampede but got something else instead.

Both monsters blew up out of seemingly nowhere, leaving behind a giant cloud of red smoke and a stain on the earth.

As it traveled through the ranks, the humanoid beasts roared while their eyes became red. Shoving the ones in front ahead so they could get to their pray quicker.

"Well then, if they want death, I'll be glad to oblige." Esdeath walked to the side that seemed to have a couple more giants before looking back at Tatsumi. "I'll take this side, your group can get the rest." She bent down to leap before looking at Leone. "Make sure he doesn't do something stupid… better yet, **when** he does something stupid, give him proper punishment."

Before Tatsumi could ask what she meant by that, she rocketed forwards, spearing through a few before she lost the momentum to do so. After that, she ran up the beasts, shooting huge blocks and spears of ice at the ones further away while she made the closer ones hit each other in their attempts to get her, bathing the ground in an ocean of blood.

The trio was staring at the carnage that the Empire's Strongest was bathing in, shocked at how she was able to do such a feat. Sure Tatsumi saw her fight, but she never had to give such an attempt before.

Funny enough, Sheele was the one who made them come back to reality. "So did Stylish make these or something, because I've never even heard of Danger Beasts like these before?"

"Oh shit! I completely forgot about him!"

"Well, maybe if you drank less-" Leone hissed at her as she hid behind her boyfriend.

"Can't really believe I'm saying this, but Sheele's right. Stylish probably set this up as a diversion so he could escape. So while I deal with those guys," He motioned his thumb to the behemoths not targeted by his lover. "you two go and find the mad scientist. Here, this'll probably help." Tatsumi pulled out the insignia Leone handed him yesterday. "It probably has his scent, so Leone; you can track, and Sheele; you can help fight." As he turned he was lifted off the ground.

"See this? This is what the Snowflake meant when she said you'd do something stupid. She can at least fly and has ranged weapons. You can only stab and slash, which, by the way, will be like paper cuts to these huge things, even with your paralyzing toxin." Leone sighed. "But I know you aren't going to back down from this, so let me do what our girl asked before she left." Placing Tatsumi down and spinning him back to face her, Leone leaned in close to his ear and whispered.

"Don't you dare get even a scratch, after all, we'll be taking our dragon out of his cave soon." She grabbed his groin and lightly stroked it. "So you'll need to bring your A-Game if you want to be able to take on one of us." Not letting the tomato faced boy speak, Leone transformed, pulled Sheele into a bridal carry, and jumped down the ice pillar, letting one arm claw into the side as a means to slow their descent.

 **XxXx**

'I'm not even gonna say it anymore.' Lubbock sat in bed, ice pack on his head, and blanket wrapped around him.

'I already got a cold. I don't want something worse to happen.' Lubbock sighed. 'Maybe I can sleep to the thought of Najenda nursing me back to health… in an outfit so small a stripper would find it revealing.'

With that, the pervert left the plane of consciousness and was whisked into lala land.

 **XxXxXxXx**

* * *

 **Not the best place to leave off, but to keep up with the update schedule and normal chapter length. It seems fine.**

 **See, Lubbock can get rest, just when he's so sick that he can't get out of bed due to walking around at night wearing drenched clothes.**

 **Since so many of you guys want me to do Natsu as a celestial spirit, what, if anything, would you like me to write as a teaser. What arc or fight? I already have one of him against Juvia in my other Fairy Tail story, and one on his way to Galuna, so what else would you want as a taste test?**

 **Well, have an Awesome day/night. -N.I.A**


	19. Stalemate

**Zesterios:** Eventually in their relationship, but he's been with Leone for a while(plus them acting somewhat like beasts that aren't exactly known for dating), and Es shares all her memories with him and vice versa, so they have a strong connection as well. But Es and Lione don't know each other that well. They only know that they will accept the other's relationship with Tatsu since they either share or nobody gets him.

 **FFH:** I will put watching that movie on my 'to-do' list.

 **DL:** Well, with Extase, she could literally destroy the battlefield.

 **Guest:** Sharp tongue? She just said it'd be better if Leone wasn't such an alcoholic, which she'll have to be if she wants kittens… and babies.

 **Mailbawx:** Huh, didn't think I'd miss, well this one shouldn't.

 **A random Guest:** I totally remembered her, yeah…*goes to google* -tentacle fingers used in different methods- …that is a LOT of porn

 **Animefan260:** It's when they are first introduced, after they kill the guy and throw the flyers everywhere. Explanation to that in AN. True, I could use mythological creatures.

 **Anikong:** Thank you.

 **J.f.w:** Honestly, I just changed that before I went to bed last night XD.  
Just the suggestiveness of the omake, no sex.

 **No one answered the question I put up at the end of the last chapter, do you guys want me to write something about the story in the lead (Spirit of Fire)? Y'know, as a looksee at some points in the later arcs.**

 **To answer the question 'Why did you have Es specifically break a mailbox last chapter?' Mailbawx reviewed and said #freetatsumi2017, Esdeath didn't like that. Not one bit.**

 **XxXxXxXx-** Start/End of chapter

 **XxXx-** Scene change/Scene and Time change

 **Xx-** Time change

 **XxXxXxXx**

Tatsumi was a blur as he was smacked to the ground.

"Ow!" The hit itself didn't hurt too much, it was the impact to the ground that stung.

The hybrid grabbed some of the rubble he was thrown in and used it to help pull himself up. He looked around to see himself in some sort of mail room lined with boxes to organize letters and packages.

That was until one of the giants slammed its hands down and destroyed the room. Tatsumi having moved just in time to be in the opening between its fingers, and climbed back up.

It had been going on like this for a while, Tatsumi damages them, usually by stabbing their eyes, then they'd retaliate and knock him to the ground. If he was a normal human, that would have killed him even with an Armor Teigu, but he was able to keep himself unscathed with scales that could withstand the deepest depths of the ocean. Any internal injuries he may have sustained were quickly remedied with his healing capabilities. However, his clothes were another matter.

He was in tattered rags that not even a seamstress could tell were once cloth, them having been ripped, cut, torn, and bloodied, not by his own blood, mind you.

While Tatsumi was just blinding his monsters, letting them run rampant in their bloodlust and kill each other like mindless beasts, Esdeath had taken out most of her side, not a drop of blood appearing on her, not even a wrinkle in her clothes.

So while the two heaviest hitters in both armies took care of the current biggest threat, their companions were on the hunt for the man who created said monsters.

"Heh, you know, this'd be easier, hah, if you weren't choking me!" Leone was on all fours sprinting to find where the scent lead her. Sheele was there as well, yet as she wore a dress to combat, her movement speed was limited, not that she could even get close to Leone's speed to begin with. But with that predicament, Leone just decided to give Sheele a ride. While she didn't want to be ridden like a horse, it was the fastest way to reach the mad doctor.

At first it was fine, even with the thinning layer of dust in the air, Leone had no difficulty tracking the scent to the East. Unfortunately that meant she needed to go through a horrifying mass of destruction, and the monsters that Esdeath was slaughtering. Needless to say, the duo had to circumvent the area and were now going at high speeds into a mountainous region roughly 10 miles away from the town.

Leone stopped her run, stood up (dropping Sheele flat on her rear), and caught her breath.

The scent was strongest here, so since their target wasn't anywhere to be seen, there had to be a clue to find him.

"Okay Sheele, start looking." Seeing as this area had multiple steep walls, she decided to go as high as she could and work her way down.

"Got it." She stabbed Extase into the ground to pull herself up… turns out putting something that can cut through anything into stone didn't make for the best hand hold.

With a yelp, she fell on her back as the scissors sliced through the rock like paper. Rock-paper-scissors rules be damned.

"Well, if at first you don't succeed, try try again." Sheele had determination, that was for sure.

She had fallen two more times before Leone came back down to help.

"No, I got it." ***Thud***

"I don't think that you do."

"I'm perfectly fine." ***Thud***

"So what'll break first, your nose or your spirit?"

The stone beneath them rumbled.

"The floor." Through all of her attempts, Sheele created a square-ish outline around her. Leading to this serendipitous event.

The rock underneath her fell down, she would have too had Leone not grabbed her dress and suspended her over the opening.

Leone placed Sheele to the side, on her feet and looked down the hole.

"Holy shit, Sheele! You just made us an opening. Who'd have thought this mountain would be a secret base?" Come to think of it, it's kinda funny that it wasn't Mt. Fake.

"How deep of a drop is it?" Sheele was curious, she did almost fall down there.

"I dunno, pass me a stone."

The airhead looked around. "This one looks pretty." She bent down to pick it up.

Unfortunately for Leone, the stone was under her foot.

"Woah, careful Sheeleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."Leone pattered out.

Sheele looked up to see Leone gone. "Hey, where'd you go?" She looked down and saw her friend. "Why'd you go down there by yourself?"

If she didn't know Sheele's stupidity firsthand, she'd be livid. But being with the dummy for years, this wasn't the first time she fell down a pit because of her, she just hoped it was the last.

"Never mind that, just get down here, cut open a vertical… a top-down rock face and see if you can find a place to climb down." Leone looked at this strange pitch-black room she was in. "We'll meet back up before you know it."

 **Xx**

Sheele was tired. It was a good thing she was in a narrow hallway, otherwise this horde could have overtaken her.

After cutting an entryway that she could actually get down without dying/breaking her legs, she moved quickly, yet barely made a sound. So it surprised her when she turned to find a hall filled with enemies, the lowest tier if their completely identical appearance was anything to go by.

She took wave after wave of them, none even getting a scratch on her. It was only when she was getting winded that the fodder left and real enemies appeared.

There was a man with metal arms that barely fit in the halls, and a slim looking black haired man, though the thing she focused on was what they held.

The beefy man held an axe that could be separated and thrown, always returning to their user.

The lanky one had a black flute that was known to incapacitate people with its melodies.

According to Bulat's report, those were Balvaac and Scream.

Sheele made a stab towards the lanky one, getting rid of the one who could debuff her could save her from the other one.

As she lunged, the big one threw an axe, intent on decapitating her.

'Doesn't he know these are scissors?' Sheele just turned and opened Extase and the axe clashed with her top blade, redirecting it into a wall, while her bottom blade pierced the small one's chest. She then snapped the blades closed and jumped back, avoiding a chop to the head from Balvaac's second edge.

"One on one, that's fairer." The man laughed at her words.

"Cute thought, but you should look again."

Sheele's eyes widened, the person she cut was still standing, and not a drop of blood was to be found.

"Toby here doesn't have any human parts left, he's a metal man." Kaku was lying. Sheele didn't know that, but his ruse was enough to make her grit her teeth in annoyance.

Her displeasure turned to fear at the sight of the nearly dismembered arm rising up to play the flute.

Her head spun when the sound reached her ears. She could feel an urge to lie down and close her eyes.

Bulat said he distracted himself from the noise with pain while Tatsumi just waited it out. She couldn't really afford either right now.

'Block out the noise.' She thought about how Mine and Lubbock screamed at each other, each trying to be louder to get the other to shut up... Could that work?

She saw double as the big man held the axe, ready to throw the second she let her guard falter. The small one kept playing. Seriously, how was he able to go this long without stopping for air?

She shook her head to focus on what could save her. Putting Extase in front of her, she started to spin it like a flag twirler would. The rapid movement of the blades making whooshes through the air, cutting the floor and walls with no difficulty.

'Focus on my weapon; feel all the dips and grooves in the handles, the scratches on the blade, the noise it makes when it moves, the feel of flesh when it's torn.' Sheele stared past her blade and at her opponents, when she looked back to her Teigu, she saw herself, the useful one, the one who could help, the one bathed in the blood of her enemies. Her eyes turned dark as the music lost its effect.

The blade was raised above her head, making sparks fall around her as her spinning blade minced the metal. With a fling, the scissors were thrown at them, open and lined at their necks.

The Teigu was lodged in the wall at the end of the hall, two heads rolling on the floor.

Sheele smiled and took a step before collapsing on the ground.

"Huh?" She felt something warm and wet seeping through her dress. Looking down at her side, she saw a large gash, as well as the second half of Balvaac in a wall, dripping with her blood.

Tears formed in her eyes. She couldn't be taken out like this. Leone was still somewhere in this place, alone. Even if she couldn't say goodbye to her friends, if she could save them, that would be enough.

With waning strength, Sheele propped herself on a wall and grabbed Extase from the wall. It just slid out as Sheele walked with her hand on the grip.

"Leone, where are you?"

 **XxXx**

Her lungs were on fire while her vision blurred. This red fucker wasn't letting her land a hit, but he got dozens on her. Though, they amounted to nothing at the rate of her healing.

Breaking free from the water and pushing off a wall in this giant testing room, Leone could finally breathe after nearly a minute.

"You know, cats don't like water, trying to drown one will only end up in your mauling being even more painful!" She couldn't afford to stay still for a second as water projectiles were aimed at her. While any wounds to the body would be healed, being drowned or stabbed through the head would not.

She eyed the man in control of the water, he was a shirtless redhead in a trench coat who called himself Trooma. Any and all attacks against him were rendered useless as the sheer amount of water around him prevented her hits from landing. It was like a bubble appeared whenever she thought she saw an opening.

So she did all she could and moved, trying to get fast enough to make some decisive impact. But the opposite was happening.

Each bound had a little less distance, every step was a little slower, one wrong move and she'd once again become trapped.

'This is going nowhere, what can you do? THINK!' Leone frantically tried to come up with a solution, but she saw something that gave her hope. The ginger had blood leaking from his ears, as well as the veins on his neck bulging.

'Of course.' The last owner of Black Marlin had been killed less than a week ago. This guy had no practice with it, the only reason he should have been able to hold out so long had to have been because of Stylish. This mad scientist had made something that had no presence, as well as turning two of them into bombs with gas that made the rest hostile. Something to temporarily increase stamina had to be easy to make, especially if his help in the assassination squads of the capital was to be believed.

'Wait him out.' Leone panted as she bounded from wall to wall. 'That's all you can do, so don't stop.' Her mind went back to how Esdeath and Tatsumi were fighting giants without a worry. 'I won't be left behind, I've gotta get stronger.' In this horrible event, Leone could still smile. 'If I didn't die, Snowflake would never let me live down a loss either.'

 **XxXx**

Tatsumi was bent over, dry heaving. The stench of blood caked over him was too much, for Esdeath on the other hand…

"They weren't all that strong, I'm really gonna have to work you hard to get you to be able to beat opponents like that." She was sitting on a large rock nearby, she was looking across the vast expanse of corpses that littered the ground. "While you did well to fight them with a short ranged offensive tactic, you can't rely only on your scales. Though you can take a hit, your sword style is about redirecting and getting into their guard to land a finishing blow. Even if your arms can become sharper than any man made sword, you mustn't forget your technique.

"Now for bigger monsters such as these, you need a long ranged weapon or a long close ranged weapon." A frost bow appeared in her hands. "Your blinding tactic could have worked better if you didn't need to waste so much time climbing their bodies." She threw the bow behind her and it floated before straightening and extending into a spear behind her. "Something about this length, if thrown with enough force, could have reached their brain and killed them easy."

"Well, Tyrant didn't need any of those since he was big enough that those titans would be his breakfast." Tatsumi made his body lose its sense of smell. "Okay, that's much better."

Tatsumi took in the carnage around him before he refocused on the mission. "So, Leone and Sheele went after Stylish. But where exactly did they-" Tatsumi became as stiff as a board and his eyes turned into red crosses. Less than a second later he turned back to normal.

"We gotta catch up with them. Is your horse still here?"

Esdeath just made a whistle from ice and blew hard. A dust cloud started moving their way instantly.

"Mind sharing what you saw?"

"Leone, she was in trouble, we gotta help her." Tatsumi jumped on the demon horse the moment he could. Putting a hand out for Esdeath to grab.

"Well isn't this a role reversal." Esdeath found the switcheroo amusing as she grabbed onto his hand and rode off.

"How do you know where she is?"

"I just, felt it. My mind was going a million miles a second and I could feel where she was." He kicked the horse's side. "C'mon, go faster!" The horses neighed, following the instructions the man covered in his master's scent gave him.

"I understand that you feel worried, but she is strong. She's evaded capture alongside the rest of Night Raid for years, and with Lionel's trump card, she's nearly unkillable. So stay calm, the angrier someone gets, the easier it is to play them, and Stylish has beaten many men with words alone." Though she didn't particularly like fighting through politics or blackmail, she couldn't deny the influence Stylish had over the government by doing so.

"I know, I just, I can't help but feel this way." His teeth were clenched as he thought about all the bad things that could happen to her.

Esdeath just held him and blew cold air onto the back of his neck. "She will be fine, the only thing that will trouble her is you worrying so much. If you can feel her intense emotions, then what's to say she can't feel yours? And if she freezes like you, _then_ she would be in trouble,so keep your emotions shut and focus on what **will** be there and not what **might** be." Esdeath saw a large incline in front of them and made a ramp for the horse.

For the next minute, Tatsumi tried to keep calm and use Esdeath's words to help him focus. But when they came across a hold in the floor and wall, Tatsumi jumped off the horse as fast he could.

"So, down or straight?" Tatsumi knew where his cat was, so all she could do was wait until she could feel her.

The brunet closed his eyes and put his hand on the floor near the hole, taking slow deep breaths.

"... Straight. It's quicker to get to her if we keep breaking through that way."

Esdeath looked at the halls sprouting from the vertical opening. With a wave of her hand, she said. "Lead the way."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Okay, I actually did something with Sheele and Leone instead them just being there while the power couple did all the work.**

 **I figured that since Kaku was able to use Extase and Balvaac's only requirement is a physically strong user, they'd fit well together. Toby using Scream was more of an asspull, but he could just have a fan that lets him continuously play and let his brain receive air as well. Trooma… he hid in a pond when he tried to knife Leone's face… that's pretty much the only reason he got Black Marlin, as well as why he went up against Leone.  
Right, the chapter name comes from these guys too, they were associated as chess pieces to Stylish on the wiki, so since no one was really winning yet, it felt appropriate. (Thank my Beta cause otherwise I would have put what I'll now call the last chapter of this little arc, here.)**

 **Speaking of Teigu, Bulat needs one. So I wanna ask, can I give him a djinn-equip from Magi, I wouldn't keep the flying bit, but something like Baal's or Amon's, maybe one of Koen's like Astaroth. They would just be strong armor-type Teigu.**

 **I'll swap the poll I have up now for ^ so be sure to voice your opinion.**

 **Have an Awesome day/night -N.I.A.**

 **Why hasn't the chapter ended?**

 _ **"Look at the date."**_

 **It's the 14th, so what?**

 _ **"What is it for couples you, retarded virgin."**_

 **Well Fuck you.**

 _ **"They do that a lot on this day by giving candy and flowers and flower candy and edible flowers."**_

 **What?**

 _ **"Valentine's day dumbass."**_

 **...FUCK!... Omake time!**

 **~XXXX~ Any future can be bad or good, but for now, let us see where one of the best paths can lead.**

Tatsumi sat on his porch, staring at the darkening sky. Calm and serene days like this were why he loved it out here.

The night was just as tranquil as it was during the final attack in the revolutionary war. Going back there, he couldn't help but wonder how the rest of Night Raid was doing. Bulat had taken a mantel as General and started training the next generation of soldiers. Najenda and Lubbock had taken high political positions and word was it, they had a bun in the oven. It was about time considering they got married nearly five years ago. Akame had fallen off the face of the earth, but if they ever needed her, they knew how to find her. Mine and Sheele had taken to living in the west, trying to help ease racial tension and help establish better relations with the empire. Chelsea stayed within the military as a leader of an espionage investigation group. Even though nine years passed since its reformation, people still thought it was weak enough to secede from since General Esdeath quit. The Emperor had been left alone, but all his power was stripped away from him, he simply turned into a masthead. Though he was not idle, with Susanoo as his attendant and middle man to the those who could truly make changes, he helped influence an age of growth and started to heal the wounds he caused to his nation.

The Jaegers were basically the same, Wave, after helping Kurome receive treatments against her drug, worked his ass off in the military, finally becoming a General a year ago. Kurome was sickly and weak, though while she could no longer fight, she did support Wave in any method she could think of. Bols had stayed with the military and kept earning a salary to support his wife and child. Run had started teaching once more, as well as going to poorer towns and giving out books to educate everyone when school was no longer in session. Seryu had… well, the author has no idea if she's alive or dead in this reality. Let's just go with, due to the fact that the execution rate plummeted, Seryu had to join a more mobile section of the guards and fed Koro by giving him the Danger Beasts that harmed any town under the Empire's domain.

Leone and Esdeath had been with him since then. True to her word, Esdeath married him as soon as the government became stable enough to exist without her or Budo needing to scare any attempts at a takeover away.

Though it wasn't a traditional marriage, it was one that her clan had practiced for generations. So Tatsumi had went along with her tradition and they were together. Though it didn't change anything between them, Esdeath couldn't help but feel happy.

Roughly a month later, she gave birth.

His first kid was an adorable little girl. She was the reason the final battle was fought so fiercely. It was just before then that Esdeath found that she had his child growing in her. The one who he needed to change this world for. To make sure her life was a wonderland, like he once thought it should be.

It wasn't long after that Leone had her own. While not being able to drink for nine months made her feel crazy, it was all worth it when she held her babies in her arms.

The two were fraternal twins, both chock full of never ending energy. He knew since they kept him from getting a good night's sleep more times than he could count.

But in this house in the middle of nowhere, it felt nice to just let loose and let them play.

A ladle banged on a pot. "Alice, Lacy, Leo! Dinner's ready." When she said dinner, three blurs popped out of the forest. One blue and two yellow.

"Stop." All three stood straight as Mama-Esdeath gave them an order. It was strange to hear that militaristic tone when she was wearing an apron that had a heart embroidered on it (a gift from Bols' wife). Though it was no less commanding.

"Let me see your hands." All three put their hands out for inspection.

Alice gave a puppy dog look with her green eyes, hoping her mother would let her go. Needless to say, that didn't work, and she was sent to wash all the dirt and grime she got from playing in the forest all day.

Lacy tried to run past Es when her second mom looked at Alice. She was still kicking her feet in the air before finally relenting.

"Leo," the boy had his hands cupped together not showing his palms. "What do you have in there?"

The blond child stiffened, he put his hands behind his back and asked what she meant.

"Show me your hands." He showed his empty right hand.

"And your left?" He put his right hand back and put up his left.

"Both of them open at the same time."

He seemed to sweat bullets as he released his grip. The baby squirrel climbed up his arms and rubbed its face against his.

While anyone would think the sight sweet, Esdeath had one response. "Wash yourself, now."

All the while Tatsumi was smiling at how cute it was to see Esdeath command the children like little soldiers, when if left alone with them, she'd present them with a challenge they could definitely overcome, then coddle them in the strange way she did. (It was a bit difficult for her ideals of 'strong survive and weak die' to lessen, but when it came to her children, they obliterated any goal she had set out and made her feel unbelievably proud of them.)

"So that's three of them." Esdeath looked back out in the forest. "Where's the fourth?"

"Oh, so I'm a child? I guess you liked that last role-play more than you let on." Leone popped up on the roof, a basket of sweet berries in hand. "So," she dropped down and put on a meek pouty face, saying; "did I do something wrong _Mommy~._ Am I gonna get a spanking?" Her tail started to wrap around Esdeath's waist and pull them closer.

Esdeath didn't act any different. "The berries were supposed to be brought twenty minutes ago, so you did do something wrong." She gained a feral grin and played with Leone's tail. "So I guess I **will** give you an… appropriate punishment." She leaned her lips closer to Leone's puckered ones. "When the time is right of course." With that, she let Leone trip forward slightly as she started walking back in the house, desert's final component in hand.

Tatsumi just put his arm over Leone's shoulder. "Maybe next time, lady-killer."

"And do you want to be what I try and pounce on next?" Leone grinded into him, upping her transformation to its hybrid state. Their carnal love making in this form was always incredible. The raw emotions and feelings of this made her glad they experimented with their powers in bed.

Tatsumi's red face turned to the side. "As much as you want that, we still have a couple munchkins to feed and put to sleep." Through the window, he could see the mischievous trio walk into the dining room as Esdeath put their steaming dinner on the table. "Maybe after that."

Leone just released her transformation and held a genuine smile. "Yeah, let's go hear what our little monsters did while they were out." She kissed his cheek and dragged him alongside her into the house.

Yeah, this was a lovely sight.

 **Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, hope it's Awesome, whether you're in a relationship or not.**

 **If your not, there's a more sad story being posted by my friend Whackybiscuit, it's a Bleach fic with Lionel, so be sure to check it out. It's titled "I am Orihime, Here me Roar!"**


	20. Check

**Mailbawx:** Esdeath doesn't like you…

 **DL:** Well, she isn't dead, so I don't know why you're so scared.

 **Zesterios:** Yeah, that ain't gonna happen at all.

 **Animefan260:** You should check out Magi, it's on Netfilx and kissanime. The one you should start with begins with a little boy in a stone area fighting a blue giant. The other one is a little boy flying and shooting fire, that's the second season.  
I never cared for Budo since he had no development or establishment, he was just there. Not even a mention of what he did in the past asides his family has been guarding the royal family for generations. And I don't think they said if he even had a wife and/or child.

 **J.f.w:** Well Tatsumi is still human in mind, and no one can deny Esdeath...

 **Guest:** It's just for safety sake, but I did also add a bit of gore here.

 **I got a question; why did only two guys and/or girls vote on my poll? I didn't expect insane numbers, but at least a few. Plus, it was both 'Zagan' and 'Something from AGK'.(You can select 2 for the poll)**

 **XxXxXxXx**

A small girl with giant ears was kneeling as Stylish grabbed vials of seemingly random substances, mixing some in beakers and test tubes, placing some in his lab coat, occasionally bringing one up to his eye before he tossed it over his shoulder.

"Trooma is still engaged in combat, and Kaku and Toby have been taken out by their combatant." She closed her eyes and concentrated. "Though, she appears to be limping and dragging her weapon."

"Thank you for the report Mimi. Worry not, I shall make sure that all the lives taken by these madmen will be avenged." Stylish didn't care about those slabs of meat, but he had to keep up appearances. Actually, this was a blessing in disguise. These people could be used as test subjects for his new drug. He just finished making it riiiiiii~ght ***POOF*** now.

As the blue cloud dispersed from the beaker, Stylish carefully poured the liquid into into four vials. Two for the ones in the base, two for the ones killing his Giants. If this formula was correct, and he's never done something wrong, then even Esdeath herself would be powerless.

"Sir, the two from the outside have entered the base."

"Send the Stealth Corp after the new intruders and tell one of them to deliver this to Trooma along the way." He handed her one of the vials.

"All it needs is contact to skin. The effects should be immediate, and be sure that they are taken in alive." Having another fanatic was always useful, and when he broke them, he could receive glorious information.

"Yes Master, but what of the injured one?"

"She'll bleed out before she gets close and is a distance away from the other three, so she holds lowest priority." He'd rather just pick her up on the brink of death and while he saved her life, slowly break her mind and mold her into a puppet.

"Of course, my lord. I shall complete your orders to the letter." She stood up from her knee and jogged to notify the newly created stealth branch of Team Stylish of their mission.

When his minion turned the corner, Stylish gained a smile fit for a madman. He would have been laughing his head off at the thought of his best possible turn out but Mimi could hear anything.

For his plan to come through, everything had to be perfect, but he never allowed imperfection to stay once someone joined his personal army.

 **XxXx**

Unfortunately for him, Night Raid's members all had imperfections. One, for example is their undying tenacity and will to fight until they can no longer through a punch.

"That, heh, all, ha, you got, ***cough*** , ya pussy." Leone saw double. She finally managed to get a hit, but the oxygen deprivation got to her.

"Not… not even-" He covered his mouth as bloody vomit came forth. "Haven't even finished warming up."

"Give it up, I'm gonna kill you, so just make it easier on me." Leone was stamping her chest, trying to get out the water in her lungs.

"Please, my power, it was gifted to me by Master Stylish. I will not tarnish it by losing to the likes of you." His scowl was emphasized by the blood oozing down in his chest. "Now die like the wretch that you are." With a wave, the blood that had splattered on the blonde shot through her torso, piercing her intestines, stomach, lungs, and heart.

With a bloody cough, she fell to the floor. While Lionel would save her in due time, she still wheezed as blood started filling up her lungs.

"How'd you like that. My Trump card allows me to control my blood, and now you're the one who's gonna be dieing." Trooma took shaky steps, but when he got to Leone, he proceeded to stomp and kick any and every part of her. Laughing like a madman all throughout.

He was so engrossed in hurting Leone that he didn't notice what was coming for him until it broke through the wall.

He screamed as his arms were pierced and he was connected to the wall. The redhead tried to pull his arms out and face whoever threw these spears, but they expanded and curved. Stabbing him through his calves, stopping his movements, and pinning him to the wall.

"It seems I was wrong, the kitten did bite off more than she could chew." Esdeath actually felt anger. Usually she kept a level head and nothing really ever bothered her, but this girl didn't have the privilege of choosing when to die. They could only do so to be with Tatsumi, before then would hurt him, and she would not stand for that.

Tatsumi was right behind her. He ran straight towards Leone, kneeling to cradle her in his arms.

"Goddamnit, I'm not supposed to be a stupid damsel in distress." Leone whined. She was glad that Tatsumi and Esdeath showed up, but having to be saved by them hurt her pride.

"Well, now you know we'll run to you when you're in trouble." Tatsumi was still a little shaken by all the blood, but as the wounds were visibly closing and Leone started breathing easier. He just hugged her and remarked how funny it was that she said he was the one who kept doing stupid things.

"Stop being such a crybaby." Leone put her arms around him. It was strange to see someone so shaken up for her.

"I don't mean to interrupt you love-birds, but you do know we are in the middle of an enemy base, correct?" Esdeath was waving her arms and moving her fingers as if she was conducting an orchestra. Corpses, blood, and colored appendages flew as the chameleon men were slaughtered with varying creations of ice. "While I don't need help, I figured you might want to personally see to what happens to the one on the wall."

Seeing the one who put his girl in this state, Tatsumi asked one question.

"You wanna do it or me?" While he wanted nothing more than to kill the bastard, Leone should have a say on who does it.

"Well, if you could prop me up for a bit, I'd love to smash his face all over that wall." Leone grinned at the prospect of her revenge.

While Tatsumi was helping her up, Esdeath spoke once more. "If you are that mad, I could torture him, just a ball of ice in his head that slowly starts to expand." She put one of her hands up, a gray humanoid fell from the wall and grabbed its head, writhing in pain as blood started to come out of every facial orifice, until his head bursted like a balloon. Showering the area in blood.

"Thanks for the offer, but I gotta do this myself." With an arm over Tatsumi, she made it to her assailant no problem. He had passed out from blood loss and over exertion, so while he wouldn't have been able to fight it in the first place, now he could leave this plane of existence without seeing it happen.

Arm reared back, Leone release a literal roar as she used all her strength.

As his head was splattered all over the wall, Leone told her boyfriend to grab the ring he still had on.

"So, Stylish had taken Black Marlin, I assume he got it from the Prime Minister at the cost of some valuable information." Esdeath didn't even know that the Teigu were taken out of the vault.

"Eh, who gives a crap how he got it? We're the ones who have it now, and we sure as shit ain't gonna let this madman live to the end of today." Leone's wounds were almost nonexistent, breathing still hurt a bit, but in a minute that'd go away.

"Speaking of mad, where's Sheele?"

"We got split up, she dropped me down a hole and I ended up fighting that guy." She motioned to the bloody stain on the wall.

"She dropped you down a hole?"

"Yeah, she isn't the sharpest tool in the crayon box."

"I…" Esdeath closed her eyes and took a breath. "Okay then."

"It doesn't matter what happened, we just need to find her and kill Stylish." It was nice to see his girls talk, but Esdeath was right when she said they were in the middle of an enemy base.

"You got that right, but how do we find either of them?"

Esdeath could feel Tatsumi's gaze. "You know, I thought you were the type of gentleman to ask people to do something… I'm glad to see you know how to command." A feral smile came to her face.

Clasping her hands together, Esdeath created a wall at the entryway and started focusing. With so many things screeching, be it in despair, lunacy, or fanaticism, it was actually a challenge to find someone she only met once.

"Take the first right, then go straight for… twenty possible turns, she's inside a room on the left-hand side. With her feeling so weak, she probably got into a fight, but to be this damaging, she must have dealt with a Teigu user."

"Not good, we need to hurry. Leone, you good to run?" The blonde took her arm off him and stretched.

"Good as new." She cracked her neck. "So, Snowflake, you taking that wall down, or me?"

Esdeath rolled her eyes with a smile, not caring about the dozens of mutated humans banging against her creation. "Calm down, Tomcat, I'm getting to it." With a snap, the ice shot back and pushed all the annoyances down the hall, grinding the limbs that had direct contact with the floor, walls, or ceiling into a bloody trail.

Any and every creature blended into the darkness, the lights were not candles and had shut off some time before Leone had gotten challenged by the water bender. While the lack of light did annoy them, all three combatants were able to either able to see in the dark, or could sense where the enemy was.

Sheele on the other hand, she found herself in an infirmary. Well, that or a morgue, either way, she found materials to clean out and stitch up the cut on her side. It was uneven and the bandages were tied up like bunny ears, but she stopped bleeding as much and wouldn't get an infection.

She was heading for the door when it was yanked open.

Her first instinct was to stab, but she decided to block, she would need to run if she had to fight more than one experiment.

"Sheele, thank goodness you're okay." Leone saw the bandages wrapped on the outside of the purple dress. "Well, 'okay' is subjective, but hey, you're still breathing." Optimist to the end.

"Leone?" She looked behind her and saw Tatsumi and Esdeath fighting dark figures. Well, Esdeath slaughtered anything that got close, Tatsumi didn't let his guard down, but nothing got close for him to hit. "When did they get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago, but we can't just stay here. Our job still ain't done." Leone looked at Esdeath. "You know where the quack is?"

"Must you rely so heavily on me? The next chance I get, I'm teaching you two how to be able to rely on your own power."

Leone gained a tick mark. 'Where the hell was the attitude when Tatsumi asked?' She was about to voice her thought when Sheele spoke.

"Well, to be fair, neither of us has met him." Esdeath decided to ignore the airhead.

"Tatsumi." That was all the warning he got before he had to move to stop a claw from hitting her jugular.

This time she let her boyfriend keep them off her, and he did just that, tearing through them while taking Esdeath's earlier words into consideration, sing the sword style he developed through years of hard work and training. Without a sword, the reach he was use to was nonexistent, but his speed had a dramatic increase. He should still probably get a sword though, he could use his evolution to surprise the enemy and get a quick kill.

Bathed in blood, Tatsumi stood proud in front of Esdeath. "Which of you bastards is ne-aaah!" His cool moment was interrupted when Esdeath grabbed his collar and started marching to the room Sheele was in, breaking down the wall to more quickly get to her destination.

It took a second, but Tatsumi was able to right himself and follow without being choked.

"So why did you just try to strangle me?"

"Don't be a baby. We both know you won't even get a mark on your skin."

"... You just wanted to see how fast I could fix myself." Her smile told him everything.

"Seriously, less kissy faces, more directions." Esdeath hadn't increased her pace and the mutations were now attacking Leone and Sheele.

"Go completely straight." It didn't sound like much, but considering they were facing a wall and behind that was another one and another and a lot more after that. That was gonna get old fast.

"Anything easier?"

"Look to your left." Leone turned her head.

"What am I supposed to be seeing"

"Go past the wall." Leone promptly grabbed a body and crashed it through the wall, creating an opening for them.

"Now go through there and right."

Leone peeked her head over the side and saw a straight hallway.

"Wha- If there was a hallway, why'd you say we needed to break through all those walls?!"

"I just wanted to see if you were going to run into them all or if you'd be smart enough to try the door." Motioning to the door literally five feet to the left of Leone.

Seeing the punishment Esdeath was giving Leone for nearly losing, Tatsumi decided to keep them from killing each other.

"Well then, let's book it. Next stop, Stylish." He grabbed Sheele since she wasn't able to keep up with them in her current condition without harming herself. Running between the arguing pair, he jumped through the hole Leone made in the wall and started going the direction Es said.

Leone just had a smug smile as she stared at her boyfriend run off. "See, he used my way."

Esdeath placed a hand on her forehead. "... Just get going before I get an even stronger urge to freeze you."

 **Xx**

Many bodies and minutes later, the quartet reached the room Stylish was in. They had finally killed all of the monsters that were after them, so they could actually breathe without being pounced upon.

"Break in on three." Tatsumi was in front of the door with Leone and Esdeath on his sides. Sheele stayed in the rear to stay out of the bulk of combat, but she could still help in Stylish tried to get behind them.

"One..."

"Two..." Everyone's muscles tensed.

"Three!" The three at the front obliterated the wall and Esdeath shot a spray of frozen needles forward.

"Ah, all of you finally made it." The small ice couldn't make it past the reinforced glass. "And I started to think I would need new test subjects." He took a sip from his tea cup. "Now, lets get started." He put the cup down and tapped something on his Teigu.

The hallway had two doors slam down from the ceiling, and instantly, the room and hall started to fill up with blue gas.

"I heard immediately that the one I tasked to hit you with this failed. So I devised a way to fix that problem." He chuckled as he saw them cover their mouths. "Go ahead, the air so thick that it will be absorbed through the skin as well." Leone wasn't taking that lying down and started punching the glass separating them. Despite her fervor, she barely scratched it.

A few seconds after she breathed some of it in, she noticed something weird happen. Every punch she threw needed more effort to move. Still, she kept throwing them until she couldn't.

Sheele made the most progress, having Extase actually stabbing through the glass, but her body being the weakest out of everyone there, she was the first to drop into the cloud of blue around their feet.

Esdeath created a clear box, but she could feel it, the growing difficulty to keep her eyes open and herself standing. This had only happened once before, and that was from...

Tatsumi faired the best. His body had yet to give up and he was targeting where Leone did and was starting to crack through the glass.

"I see, interesting." Stylish jotted something down on his notepad. "You seem to be the only one resistant to this. I got this strain straight from the general's blood. A toxin that once distributed totally immobilizes the target. While it was strong in its own right, I took the liberty of adding some extra style to it." At the end of his sentence, he struck a pose.

Tatsumi just grit his teeth and kept hitting.

"You have an interesting body as well, you're the one that General Esdeath claimed as her own. When I first met you, you seemed like an average boy, nothing really that interesting." The Doctor placed his hand on the glass, watching the hybrid. "But seeing you now, I can't even count how many questions I have, nor can I imagine all the experiments I could preform." A hungry smile appeared on his face. Wanting to sink his claws in to the brunet as soon as possible.

"As much as I wanted to discuss with you the error of fighting me, I must cut that short for talking to him like that." While Tatsumi's venom was quicker, this one absorbed through the skin, so her box did little when the mist was pooled at her feet. "I'll be killing you now." Esdeath just stared at him while a long stick of ice appeared at the other end of the wall, behind the doctor.

"About that." He pressed a button as soon as Esdeath shot her fingers forward. "I think not."

Esdeath was wide eyed as her creation fell to the floor. She continued motioning, but it wouldn't move.

"You wondered why your abilities left you at the ship, I healed the cut that you received, but I couldn't prove my hypothesis. Then you wanted to run a test on yourself, and oh so graciously provided me with the ability to apply my test. I am quite glad my thoughts were correct, having a hole through my chest isn't the best outcome."

"H-how?" While Leone couldn't stand, with her body pushed against the glass, she was propped up and saw what happened.

"Oh dearie, it's quite simple, when someone is taking in the Demon's Extract. All current users lose their abilities." He let out a gaudy laugh. "And that, my oh so willing test subjects, is Checkmate."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **I can't really tell why, but I just don't like how I did this chapter. Maybe you guys can explain it to me, because I got no clue and it's bugging the crap outta me.**

 **Sorry for the late upload, I did up to the XxXx yesterday, but I didn't like the ending and couldn't come up with something and write it down until 8 PST.**

 **Anyways, have an Awesome Day/Night -N.I.A.**


	21. And Mate

**Wacko12:** Seriously, you just come here and ask about porn and not say a word about the actual chapter? Don't be a dick. The answer is no, this is not a porn story, so leave.

 **Zesterios:** Thanks.

 **DL:** Well, Tatsumi can still move and fight, so it ain't that bad.

 **FFH:** You think they'd just come and kill him in a second? He's got precautions for a lot of things. He just got lucky that Tatsu found a way to freeze Esdeath's power for a few minutes. If not, THEN he would have been destroyed in less than a second.

 **Mailbawx:** I did make Es more rude to Leone, but I also specified that that was her showing anger at Leone for losing. To be fair, the 'buff' isn't a buff, he hasn't gotten stronger, he just used his brain to combat Esdeath. She has natural monstrous strength, so he filled the room with gas that makes her unable to move. Got an OP ability, makes her unable to use it for a little bit. And did you feel that way throughout the whole chapter, or just when I said it?

 **J.f.w:** Just a vial, like what you'd get from a needle, but Tatsu just had a drop, so that can be milked for a LONG time.  
Oh right, the scientific method… might have forgotten the specifics and just made him take a gambit…  
He's a scientist, a man of knowledge can never stand up to someone like Esdeath in a match of strength, so he uses his mind to fight her on an equal level.

 **WE PASSED 20 CHAPTERS AND 150 FOLLOWS. I really gotta remember to scream that out when they happen, not a while after. Also, I really gotta pick up my pace, 20 chapters and Stylish still isn't dead. At this rate, the end is gonna be past 100. Hm… any arcs I should skip, or should I make them kill all Wild Hunt members quickly. Oh, maybe have the Jaegers and Night Raid meet, Esdeath holding all her subordinates hostage and any that go against her will to join forces will die(or quit their participation in the Empire.) So many possibilities, I just hope I do this story justice and don't make it worse the further on we reach.**

 **Oh yeah, another thing I forgot, the sneak peak into the best future 2 chapters back. Anyone get why I named his first kid Alice, I used some word play when he said he found out Es was pregers. And FFH, you know the reason so you can't answer. Tease and hint however; yes.**

 **Enough self deprecation, time to get on with the story.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

"Oh, fuck off you Jojo ripoff." Tatsumi didn't really care about Esdeath losing her power, only that this man was hurting his friends.

Stylish ignored the comment and continued speaking.

"I must commend you all for getting here so easily. My men are nothing to scoff at, but only three of you truly catch my eye." He turned his back to the glass and kept on monologuing. "The strongest of the Empire, her lover who is somehow resisting this incredible toxin I created, and a street rat that seems to be in possession of Lionel, a teigu with miraculous healing powers, I'd just love to see if their abilities are as great as they are written."

He pushed some buttons on Perfector before facing them once more.

"That girl with a giant pair of scissors however, she doesn't seem special in any way, shape, or form." He scowled.

"If Lionel can fix any wound, then this shouldn't do anything to the blonde. Since the boy can withstand this, then type 4 wouldn't kill him outright. Esdeath is in her safe space, so she's fine as well." The doctor talked to himself, yet he found no reason to murmur.

"Hey, jackass, what are you going on about." Tatsumi had tried moving Extase to get to the man, but the blade wouldn't budge. When that failed, he had tried to break the walls around the room. None seemed to be made of the same material as the previous ones. While his fists didn't get damaged, neither did the walls. He was going to try the ceiling before he heard what the psycho said.

"Hmm? Oh, it's quite simple. If you two don't survive this, then my expectations were far too high, but if you do, then I can get you three without having to kill the fourth after she's wasted my supplies." He pressed one button closest to his pinky and green gas came in place of the blue.

Tatsumi knew this was bad and lifted both Sheele and Leone onto his shoulders to keep them away from the heavy gas. When the cloud touched his legs, he could feel a horrible burning sensation.

The boy grit his teeth as he put the two atop Esdeath's box. Said General hated this situation. If she had access to her ice powers, this poison would never have even been released, but Stylish had robbed her of them. If memory served, it took only five minutes for her Extract to respond to her after Tatsumi ingested some.

With the rate of how quickly the gas flooded the room, they'd be lucky for four.

Tatsumi was looking around the room, desperately searching for some weak point he could exploit. He felt like he was going to get a panic attack.

' **Why do you do this to yourself?'** Tyrant questioned, the spirit of the armor appeared leaning on whatever wall the brunette faced.

Tatsumi got over the fact that the dragon came and went whenever he pleased after many unsuccessful attempts at calling him. So this visit didn't surprise him.

"Not now, I don't have time for this." He said, throwing a bookcase on the floor.

' **Child, when will you realize that you will always have time.'** The suit snapped its fingers and Tatsumi froze.

He found himself unable to move his mouth either.

'Why the hell are you trying to stop me!' While he couldn't say it, he could still think it.

' **Look around. Well, through your peripheral vision, your eyes can't move either.'**

He did as told and focused on his surroundings.

'Everything is frozen! How did you do this?'

' **I haven't stopped time if that's what you think. Everything is going the exact same speed as before.'**

'But not even the gas is moving, so what's going on?'

The armor groaned and rolled its eyes, as if the answer was obvious. ' **I only altered your** _ **perception**_ **of time, nothing more. Your brain is so powerful it can think fast enough that everything seems to have stopped. If I didn't keep this from happening when you first got your abilities, you would still be on the boat and have gone insane well before the demon took a step.'**

'Okay, I get _how_ you did this, but you still haven't told me _why_. I'm in the middle of something and I need to find a way out.'

' **That's exactly my reason. Why do you trap yourself here? You have my ability to evolve. Nothing should be able to kill you after the first hit. So why are you being pained by this.'** The suit kicked the air, phasing through the green fog. ' **The second it touched your skin, antibodies should have been created. So I ask; Why do you squander your powers? Disregarding the toxin, you can make your muscles into hulking masses of power and bash any wall down to stop the scientist from killing your friend and hurting your lovers. Why do you not act?'** Tyrant actually started to sound angry near the end.

'You know why, I can't just make new evolutions. I've only been able to redo anything that you once did.'

' **And why is that?'**

'I don't know. Whenever I try to change myself, nothing happened.' He tried to do something different from Tyrant the day he told Night Raid about his plan to convert Esdeath, like glow or gain wings, anything. But nothing would change and ever since the tournament he's had no time to try again.

' **If you can't create any evolutions, then why have you been able to become human?'** The armor tapped Tatsumi's chest. ' **I did not possess this ability, yet whenever you change, you will yourself to return to your weak base form. If you couldn't evolve into what you wished, you would have stayed amphibious, your skin would not revert from scales to flesh. When you bit that sword and spit it back out, your mouth would still have such elasticity. But nothing has stayed against your will. If you wanted, you could be exactly the same as before we merged. You say you do not have the ability to evolve, yet you know this is not true. It is not that you lack the ability to do so, you only have the absence of courage and drive to go into the unknown. So as my host, show me that you truly deserve my powers. That you aren't shackled by fear and can move onwards to save those close to you.'** The armor vanished into mist as the books clattered to the floor alongside the shelf.

Tyrant had told him the truth that he didn't want to accept. That he still felt like he would be a monster if he didn't stay human, but what the hell was his humanity when people were in danger.

Closing his eyes and standing still, he took a deep breath, the gas burning his lungs.

Then the pain from the poison seemed to stop. It just felt like a mist.

'I can do anything with my strength.' His hands slid on Stylish's barrier. The doctor watching his movements with curious eyes. 'The only question is 'what?'... C'mon, Lubba uses manga, so maybe something from there can help.'

Hellsing, no. Fate, no Fairy Tail, One Piece, no.

'Ugh, I have to know something. If I can't break through this wall and hit Stylish at the same time, he'll have an opening, and who knows what he'll do next, be it more poison or something else. So who or what had immense breaking force?' The gas was only around his waist, so he had plenty of time. If not, he could try out what Tyrant showed him and think for as long as he needed.

Taking a step back, he looked at the entire barrier, the weakest point was where Exatse was lodged into, but he tried to pull out the scissors before... wait, instead of pulling them out, what about shoving them deeper? It could crack the whole thing and let him break through the glass and Stylish's head. Shame Sheele couldn't lodge the Teigu closer to the center and Stylish, but you have to work with what you got.

Pulling his fist back, Tatsumi focused on the muscles, making them grow and strengthen for his big punch.

A ***CRACK!*** was heard as Extase was shoved into the glass, all the way to the hilt. The material gained spiderweb cracks that spread from ceiling to floor.

Stylish was distracted for only a moment, the shock of his defense breaking showing all over his face. That one instant was all that Tatsumi needed, he launched forward, smashing through the weakened barrier. One arm at the side from hitting the glass, the other behind him to cave Stylish's skull.

Having no information on Tatsumi made him a wild card, as such, the doctor had no idea the boy could increase his strength to levels he had only seen from Esdeath and Budo. Such mysteries are what drove him to cut the human body open and see what it could take. It was his dream to make a perfect creation, to splice the bests of every species together so his legacy would continue throughout time.

Before his head was separated from his neck and splattered on the wall behind him. Stylish thought about how unfair this was. 'I still had so much more to do.'

The brunette rushed to open the blood-splattered door, quickly dissipating the cloud on the floor. He had no clue what buttons to press to stop the toxin, with how this man operated, the wrong one could likely blow up this base.

Shaking that thought out of his head, Tatsumi went back to the trio of women and moved the two Raiders to a safe place for them while they slowly got feeling back in their body, on a table in a room at the end of the hall. Running back to Esdeath as soon as he could. She wasn't happy that he got her last, but it made sense why, she was safe from the green gas while the others weren't. Though the downside of her box was that the blue paralyzing gas had gotten close to her before she made it, resulting in the substance pooling around her feet. Despite the fact of her having an incredible immune system, she'd probably take the longest to recover out of the group.

Though that didn't mean she couldn't move.

When she felt her blood freeze once more, the general let out a sigh of release. She had been with the feeling of the demon for so long, it felt wrong to be without it. But now that she had her powers back, she could use them to help her infected body.

Tatsumi yelped when Esdeath stood up in front of him.

Leone, thanks to Lionel, was able to move her head at this point, albeit, with much effort.

"So, Snowflake, mind sharing your secret?"

The woman didn't speak, she wasn't able to do that without possibly damaging herself. Instead she walked robotically towards Tatsumi and traced letters in his palm.

"I... am... using... Extract." The bleunette showed her arm and a contraption like Cross Tails was shown. There was a poll going out of her jacket down her forearm, turning into a disk at the back of her hand, having one line of ice going down each of her fingers. When she wiggled them, each poll moved like paper and didn't snap.

"Ugh, lucky bastard, meanwhile I gotta wait for, like, twenty more minutes."

"Mhmhmh."

"And Sheele's probably got a few hours."

"Guess all we can do is wait..." Tatsumi looked around the room for a second before asking Sheele something. "You got that 'airhead' book with you?"

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Not the most eventful ending, but I don't think it was that bad.**

 **Dio is dea- I mean Stylish is a vampi- I mean I need to watch Jojo before I actually make references.**

 **Well, with that mini-arc out of the way, we can move on. After this was the intro to Su-san and Chelsea, as well as Bulat coming with(by popular vote) Zagan, the spear that can manipulate nature. So until then, I hope you enjoyed and review.**

 **Have an Awesome Day/Night- N.I.A.**

 **PS: Sorry for the late update, the end of the chapter was difficult for me to come up with.**


	22. New Arrivals

**Wacko12:** Answered by PM.

 **FFH:** "Any and all attempts will be met with hostile force." -Esdeath

But it's not like she'll be out in the wilderness with them, or maybe Tatsumi won't be… TBH I don't even know.

 **DL:** I did say that Esdeath can manipulate her pain and suffering to make her bend the way she wants.

 **Animefan260:** Answered via PM.

 **Revanchist21:** Thank you.

 **CO8:** Well, I only put the first line like that because, in the wiki, it even says that he does Jojo poses.  
You're the second guy to say 'make sure Champ gets his dues'. Well, stuff along those lines.

 **SFTS:** GAR? And why bring up Lubba, he didn't even get a name drop in the last chapter?

 **J.f.w:** No, he died because Tatsu broke through the glass and punched his head off. He was a fair distance away, Tatsu was just fast enough to close it.  
This wasn't put in with the last one since I didn't have this written at that time. I usually hurry to meet my 10 day deadline because if I don't have a deadline, I would update FAR less frequently. #Sheele'slifematters

 **Mailbawx:** He wasn't even ordered by the girls last chapter!

 **LwaBHO:** Thank you

 **Guest:** But how would Tatsumi be able to do that? He'd need something to stop Extract inside his system. He did it in his own body, but it was more of a mental barrier that stopped the demon in his body as opposed to a physical one.

 **J.f.w:** That's what I was going for.

 **Right, in case some of you guys were confused, Stylish is dead. I wrote his last thoughts, said his head hit the wall behind him, and when Tatsu opened the door to air out the gas, I said it was bloody.**

 **200+ Followers and 150+ reviews, damn… I don't really know what to say or do to properly thank you guys… Should I try to do a smut scene or sexual encounter between Tatsumi and one of his girls? I don't think I'll be that good, but who knows.**

 **One thing I gotta ask, can any of you come up with a name for this chapter, cause I'm drawing a blank.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

"You two sure you're okay?" The thrupple and Sheele finally made their way out of the labyrinth of a hideout that Stylish had. Four teigu in the arms of Sheele and Leone.

Before they escaped the laboratory, Tatsumi had went and collected the objects from their now dead users. When he was out, Esdeath continued to move around and see how fluidly she could move her ice. By the time Tatsumi came back, she could walk without having to pause after each step. Fingers were a problem, but she could practice the smoothness of her control later.

Leone had the worst of it, just being stuck and unable to move, trying her hardest to wiggle her any part below her neck.

Sheele had closed her eyes and found herself in a world of her imagination. Where a guy was typing on what looked like a typewriter that ran off of electricity and seeing him type out her actions, and that Sheele seeing that writer type out her actions, and that writer and Sheele went through the same thing and the-

"Sheele, we're out of there, you alright? You're nose is bleeding." The trio looked at her.

"Hm?" She tapped directly under her nose and saw blood. " _Oh, don't worry about it, I was in an infinite paradox where I saw myself being controlled by the will of another man who was writing about me seeing who was seen by me who was written by another man who-"_

"Sheele, talk with your outside voice."

"The heat's just getting to me." 'They can never understand my reality.'

"She's not wrong." Tatsumi didn't like how hot the day had been. 'The sun is barely moving from the middle of the sky. How long were we even here, one hour to get here, then around one more before Sheele and Leone got here. We fought those giants then came here and needed the poison to wear off… has it only been around four hours?'

"We can still get back to the Capital and no one will be any wiser of our deed. Well, except Ran of course." Esdeath stretched her arms above her head, it was suffocating in that dreary place. And she spent a lot of weekends in the torture chambers, so that's saying something.

"Wait, what?" Tatsumi just blinked owlishly.

"Ran, the one with wings." Esdeath pointed behind her back.

"I know who he is, you mean you told him about-"

"The fact that I'm betraying the Prime Minister, keeping all forces under my control safe alongside the Emperor and making sure you don't get with any more girls?" She eyed Sheele at her last statement. "No, not all of it, I ordered him to pass a message. That's why Sheele and Leone even knew where to go. I told him Stylish did something I didn't like, if he doesn't come back, then he angered me even further. I know Ran won't give a whisper about Stylish's disappearance as well. He came here to find revenge for dead children. The second I told him Stylish experimented on everything, regardless of age, race, or species. He went to deliver the message as fast as he could."

Leone had her hands pushing her lower back forward to limber up after being unmoving for so long. "You mean the blondy who said he was sent by you? Yeah, when he knocked on the door to the bookstore, I first thought he was some regular because he looked so sure of himself." The wild girl sighed happily as her back cracked. "He even bought some books before he left, probably to keep his cover, but hey we got some drinking money."

Esdeath was looking around. "No, he bought it of his own volition. That man was a teacher, while he might be knowledgeable in many things, the best ones always strive to improve." The general slowly petered off at the end of her remark.

"You can just call the horse, or make one out of ice, so why do you want to look around for him instead of just taking the easy way out?" Tatsumi really wanted to wash the monster blood off of him, even jumping in a river would suit him fine.

"Oh yeah, we don't have horses. I actually forgot that during this fight." Leone was scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

Esdeath flicked her hand and two average sized horses were made from ice. "Point the head the direction you want to go and they'll move forward as fast as they can. If they come into contact with a wall, they'll splatter and freeze it."

Leone grabbed the frozen reign, it felt strange. Staring into its eyes was like looking at a statue. "Thanks for these… I guess."

Esdeath usually got that reaction with her creations taking the shape of living entities. "They have pouches as well to hold the Teigu, grab them before you jump off, otherwise you'll have to thaw them out."

"You're going right now?" Tatsumi was paranoid of Leone's safety after seeing her so injured.

"Yeah, we gotta report this to Akame and figure out how to get these weapons back to main base as best we can."

Leone put her arm over Esdeath's shoulder. "Try not to wear him out. I still gotta get my crack at him."

"I give no promises."

Leone dramatically placed her hands over her heart. "Ah, so cruel." Giving up on the act Leone walked to her boyfriend, licking her thumb before wiping his lips.

Before Tatsumi could turn into a stuttering mess, Leone gave him a kiss. "Much better, I don't think I wanna know what giant blood and lizard-human blood taste like." She showed that her thumb was covered in the blood she took from his lips.

"I guess that you're staying at the Capital to prevent this from happening again." She motioned to the holes in the mountain. "I'll see you again soon then." She hefted the purple haired woman onto her own horse. "C'mon Sheele, we gotta move."

As they rode off, Sheele said her farewells.

"Hm, oh, bye Tatsumi, bye Esdese."

"Sheele, it's Esdeath."

"But the manga started with -dese and put -death for the anime. Funny enough Esdese was a play on 'S, Desu' meaning 'She's an S.' S for Sadist."

"Sheele, we aren't part of a shounen or whatever. Why're you acting like a trivia section?"

The airhead looked into the vast empty sky. "Right… of course not…"

"You gotta keep your head out of that sci-fi/fantasy stuff. None of it's real."

 **Meanwhile, in another dimension**

"We beat the incarnation of death itself with the power of friendship. Three cheers for Fairy Tail!"

 **In a different one**

"MY DRILL IS THE DRILL THAT CREATES THE HEAVENS!" The paltry Gunman's drill tore through the Anti-Spiral's **Giga Drill Break.**

 **In Another one**

" **Getsuga"** A raspy voice came from a masked face. " **Tenshō!"** A sword was swung and an immense amount of energy was shot at a brown haired man who recovered from the hit near instantaneously.

 **Back to this reality**

Sheele's eyes sparkled at the all different worlds. "Yeah, I know."

While the duo left on surprisingly fast creations. Esdeath cracked her knuckles.

"Here we go," She put her hands on the rim of the opening. "This should keep anything in there from staying alive." Ice crawled from her grip and long spikes shot out, reaching all the way to the other side of the hall or room they sprouted from. It took two minutes to get every room and hall completely covered.

"Wha- Why didn't you do that after we found Sheele and Leone!?"

"I had to talk to him and try to make him see my way. The fact that he attacked the two of us signed his death warrant, but before that, he was still my subordinate and I had to give him a chance at redeeming himself." Esdeath punished her soldiers accordingly, slaughtering them over one mistake quickly grew tiresome, and apparently, they could learn not to do the same mistake again after losing a finger or a few teeth.

"...I should learn to not really question your work ethics, shouldn't I." It wasn't a question.

"Now," Not giving the rhetorical question an answer. "Let's get back home."

Her whistle cut through the peaceful surroundings of the artificial mountain. Then as quickly as it disappeared, a galloping took its place.

Three seconds flat and the devil horse was in front of them.

"So where was he?"

"I shooed him off, I didn't want one of Stylish's goons to take him, and he didn't have anything for lunch, so I let him hunt."

Looking at it's maw, there was red staining the teeth.

"What does he… let's just get back to the Capital and say… um, you wanted to look for a new avian Danger-Beast to tame and came back empty-handed since…"

"The giant ones left the area early this year and none were big enough to stay fast and carry both our weight at the same time." Esdeath finished his cover up. While not the greatest lie, it wasn't bad.

"Yeah." Tatsumi eyed the horse. "Can I sit on the back this time?"

Esdeath only stared at him.

He hung his head in acceptance. Less than a minute later, Tatsumi was in front of Esdeath as she directed the steed to their destination. Pushing his head between her breasts.

 **XxXx**

"So you could only find minnows and not a single bass." Wave shook his head in sadness for his friend.

"...Sure, let's just say that's a phrase now." Kurome didn't know how to respond to the man's nautical nonsense.

She had just found Wave after searching since she woke up. Deciding to look at the poster roll she threw in the trash. She wanted to ask what store Wave bought it from. She needed more pastry based art! Right after she got its name, Tatsumi showed up in the Jaeger's briefing room. Apparently the General wanted to get another flying Danger Beast for her lover.

"Yeah, but I don't get why she won't let me just ride on the ground with the rest of the troops." Tatsumi had jumped into a river before he entered the Capital, when he reached his lover's room he changed into a white button up, black slacks, and loafers. A casual wear for upper class denizens.

Esdeath had given a simple reason to why he had to jump in the water, a man covered in blood, regardless of monster's or not, would cause unnecessary attention. A man drenched from head to toe, not as much.

"She just wants to keep you close, and it's not like you don't have a fear of heights… you don't right?"

"No Wave, I'm not scared of being up high. Just the fall to the ground and dieing." Well the current height he needed to fall to die was a mystery to him, but he'd rather not test it.

"Well, going against assassins isn't a job where you'll survive if you're scared of death." Kurome spoke between her grabbing another cookie.

Tatsumi scratched his head and looked thoughtful. "Eh, I don't think not being scared of death is smart either. It's more like, I am scared, but I won't let my decisions be ruled by fear."

Kuro stared at his face. "Hmm, you keep proving yourself smarter than I think."

"I… Wave, was that a compliment or insult."

"It was a compliment, well, I'm eighty percent sure anyways."

"Such great insight." Sarcasm was dripping from the words.

The door to the room opened.

"Well, if you do get stranded on some island or find yourself working a ship, his nautical nonsense would be something you wished you paid attention to." The man Tatsumi was waiting to talk to finally showed up.

"Ran, why are you calling it nonsense?" Wave clenched his hand over his heart.

"You are to supposed to be calm and clear when talking about a subject." Ran went through the door to the kitchen. "What you do is talk about random parts of the ship, be it the keel, sails, or rudder for example. You explain so many things without a clear and concise point you want the listener to learn." He came back out with a snack he grabbed from a shelf. "It confuses anyone who isn't paying intense attention."

"I'm always clear." His defense was raised.

"List them and I'll prove you wrong." Kurome was happy to knock them down.

As the two argued, Tatsumi moved closer to Ran's seat. Leaning close before whispering.

"So you know what me and Esdeath did?"

The mindful man swallowed before he spoke.

"She personally sought me to deliver a message about it, so yes."

"And you're not going to say anything?" He made his voice as low enough that Ran had to strain his ears to hear him.

"A man who has done such atrocities, be it to man or animal, is not worth to be pitied or saddened by their death. If anything, happiness is the feeling going through everyone." The kind man never seemed so cold before.

"Well then," Tatsumi back away and sat up. "Thanks."

The angel wiped his mouth. "There's nothing to thank me for."

 **XxXx**

"M-my a-a-ass is f-f-f-roz-zen."

"You're still on about that?" Mine looked up from the barrel of Pumpkin. "You got back nearly twenty minutes ago, so shush and let me clean Pumpkin in peace."

"You weren't the one who rode an ice horse for two fucking hours!" Her boiling blood didn't help her plight.

"No, but Sheele was and you don't see her complaining." She motioned her cleaning rod to the airhead, she had taken a nap in front of the ash filled fireplace like a cat would.

But the real cat wished Sheele didn't finish the firewood while she tried to get rid of the cold in the hot spring. There was barely any left after Lubbock used it to dry himself and his clothes last night, so the flames died before she could see the cold wasn't leaving. "She had fire!"

Mine slammed her hands on the table. "If you don't quit with your whining, I'll-" Mine stopped as the door to their secondary base was opened. Akame would be out until sunset, Lubbock was in bed, and the other three members currently in the city were in this room. Meaning either someone found their secret hideout and they were being invaded, or the more likely option;

"Boss, you're back so soon?" They didn't know how long she'd be gone, after all, she was talking about the terms Esdeath had for joining their force, but no one expected it to last two days. That's how long it took to even reach a main outpost.

"Yeah, things went extremely smooth when I described in vivid detail the raw destructive force Esdeath had and how she destroyed my battalion in minutes with little to no help from her own soldiers." The cost of keeping the Emperor was a large one. He was the masthead of the terrible age they were in, the start of the new government would be even more difficult than it originally would have been. "They agreed to the deal Esdeath provided. And while I was in the conference, Bulat was trying to find a new Teigu he could use. He nearly killed himself with how fast he was trying them out and going to the next one the second he felt rejection. "

"So he didn't find one?"

"I didn't say that now did I?" Najenda had a proud grin on her face. "Our Hundred-Man Slayer found one that he resonated with a few minutes before take off."

"Take off?" Mine held a little fear in her voice at the image of flying.

"The army was kind enough to supply the four of us with an Air Manta to get back here in a few hours." Najenda got out a cigarette. "We landed a bit away from here to help provide a covered landing area. The Manta is currently in our possession until an informant from a town over arrives at his checkpoint, then we'll have to say goodbye as he gives his information to the higher ups." Smoke wafted from her mouth.

"So we have a creature that can fly ridiculously fast… do you mind if…?" Leone didn't want to finish her sentence, but Najenda knew what she meant.

"No, you cannot just go on a joyride."

"Damnit!"

"What!? You paid attention to that but not that Boss came back with extra people?"

"It's a flying manta ray! Nothing else she said is as important!"

Mine ignored the interruption."Her and Bulat are two. She said four of them came on the Manta." She look her leader in the eye. "So who were the other two."

Najenda smirked. "I think I'll let them introduce themselves. I wouldn't want to ruin their first impression."

Leone whined but got away from her blanket. Mine quickly reassembled Pumpkin and strapped it over her shoulder. Sheele hear the clutter from Mine and woke up. When they told her they were going to see Bulat and two new people, she pushed herself up.

"That's everyone, let's go." With that, the three women followed Najenda. Forgetting about one person.

"Mine… Leone… Sheele?" Lubbock came out from behind his door and saw an empty base. "Where'd everyone go?"

 **XxXx**

A mile or so from their second mountain base was an area filled with overgrown vegetation and plants and trees that looked like a weed wacker was shoved through them.

Such was the match Bulat was having against a horned man.

Both their weapons provided distance, but both had different utilities.

One had a seemingly blunt head, but it opened and razors came from the segments, mincing anything that came into contact with it.

The other seemed like a more traditional spear, the only real ornate feature was the eight-sided star on the blade. Yet the spear seemed to grant the Pompadour styled man a control over the plants in the area, letting him entangle his opponents, ranging from disturbing their footing to crushing a man with a vine.

Not that any of these abilities affected the horned male much. His wounds seemed to disappear as soon as the spear left his skin.

Bulat was panting, he through his shirt and jacket on a tree branch before starting this spar. He was glad, otherwise they'd just be soaked in sweat.

"Damn, you guys did a number on this place." Leone had to move around warped branches to get close to them.

"Yeah, Susanoo here has been helping practice with my new Teigu." Bullat put his spear over his shoulders and used it to hold his arms. "I read what it can do in the book, but I am not even close to using its full power."

"Don't sweat it, you'll get there eventually."

"Gh, gr, hm, ah!" Mine had finally squeezed her way through the trees, her hair had gotten shoved around and the dress was wrinkled as well. "You should fix those on our way back out."

Her pink eyes turned to the new guy. "What his naAH!" The rosette screamed as the bluenette just appeared before her face with his hands up in a cupping hold.

"Huh?" He patted her hair down and then proceeded to fix up her dress. "What's with him."

"Susanoo, introduce yourself." Najenda was sitting on a branch that was low enough to let her be eye to eye to three of her subordinates.

"I am Speed of Lightning: Susanoo, a biological Teigu under the orders of Ms. Najenda, pleased to meet your acquaintance." The Teigu bowed.

"Um, likewise?"

"Hey boss, that's only one new guy, where's the second?" Leone was looking around, the trees seemed to have made a makeshift boundary line.

A small chipmunk scurried down Najenda's tree. Running on the floor until it reached Mine, hidden in the grass. The mammal burst into smoke.

"You'd be dead." A redhead with a lollipop held a needle to Mine's neck. "I stab the pressure point here and you lose the ability to breath." She put her arm down and walked towards Najenda. "She outta work on knowing her surroundings."

"Huh, well that's a special entrance."

"WHA- YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T KNOW SHE'D DO THAT?!" Mine didn't know whether to be angry at the girl who her at stab-point or her boss for not telling her to not do that.

"Calm down, you didn't get hurt."

Leone saw a way to get back at the midget for mocking her pain. "C'mon Mine, get over it."

"You little-"

"Newsflash, you're the little one." Chelsea was happy to annoy.

"What's happening, why is Mine angry now?" Sheele used Extase to cut through the branches like a hedge clipper. "Was it height, surprise, or weight?"

"DON'T YOU EVEN THINK OF CALLING ME PUDGY!"

"Those parfaits gotta go somewhere."

"LEONE!"

As the Raiders teased Mine, Chelsea only made a few comments before she leaned on the trunk next to her new superior officer.

"You guys are a lot different than I thought you'd be."

Najenda took a drag. "How so?"

"I figured the infamous 'Night Raid' would be more… collected; You have one guy who has years of experience, two girls who just took out street thugs that were our targets, an ex-empire assassin, you, a guy who deserted with you, as well as your Teigu, and… I don't know how Mine got in Night Raid." Chelsea scratched her chin. "Anyways, you also have a new guy who joined about a month and a half ago, who you requested a Teigu for, who then broke his and his partner's Teigu, managed to hit Esdeath, and then later convert her." Chelsea rubbed her temples. "That's one crazy bunch."

Najenda smiled at her. "You're not scared, are you?"

She smiled back. "Not at all." Najenda took the lollipop Chelsea was handing her. "I'll fit right in."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Not the best place to end it. But I liked it. Also, I just finished this today (16th of March) and got home after staying a long time at school to get more headway on a project. So I wanna just watch videos and goof off.**

 **Happy early Saint Patrick's day! Though I don't know why it's such a big holiday…**

 **Anyways, have an Awesome Day/Night: N.I.A.**


	23. The Bird Flew Over the Ocean

**To those who asked questions about Shelle… SHE HAS SEEN THE EVENT HORIZON, THE BEGINNING AND END OF CREATION IS WHAT SHE WITNESSES EVERY TIME SHE BLINKS, THE GOD OF HER UNIVERSE FAVORS HER LIFE. SHE** \- ooh, look at the pretty butterfly. It's so cute, fluttering in the wind with a ladybug.

 **DL:** Look at the AN.

 **SFTS:** I didn't specify it being only female, then again, I didn't say it was only men either.

 **Animefan260:** I asked a couple people if they could do the scene (Whackybiscuit and Kowaba) but they said no. So I guess when a time comes, I'll try to do a scene.

 **J.f.w:** Well, I thought about adding Dorothea as tribute to Haruhism Follower, but I don't know how two homicidal maniacs would would fit under Tatsumi's roof.

Not really abuse, just forgetting him.

I didn't say explicitly that they died, I didn't say that they lived either. Gives me leeway further down the line if I want to make it a plot point.

I need a deadline otherwise I'd never update, so I think it's good. It forces me to get off my ass.

I don't think Mighty No. 9 was rushed. They even did a Kickstarter for another game while working on it. But I don't see all the hate for it either. Graphics weren't bad, but the gameplay and level design were the weak points.

 **FFH:** I already put Bleach there though.

 **WC555:**...Thanks for the omake idea.

 **Guest:** Well, if someone were to get to him while Esdeath was not around, then he might be able to get a third girl and make the minimum requirement for a harem. But I don't see how that'll happen.

 **There's a timeskip in the beginning of this chapter since there was one in the point of the canon where NR went to the forest to train, which still fits in this fanon since Es would train Tatsu and Bulat needs to train with Zagan as well.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

One month passed since the mission to kill Stylish was successful. The first week, it was assumed that he had just secluded himself inside one of his laboratories. During the second week, after he missed his meeting with the head of the Assassin Branch of the military, an order was given to find the scientist. His nearest lab was soon discovered with every experiment dead and all his files burned or missing, every other lab that was visited was the same. The coagulation of the blood and decomposition of the bodies meant they were dead for days.

After all recorded labs were found this way, Stylish was labeled as K.I.A. and Night Raid as the ones who killed him.

Truth be told, Esdeath had written down every location that Stylish had a base and gave the information to Night Raid. They in turn systematically destroyed each lab, grabbing all important documents and burning any duplicates. It was a huge gain in their intelligence system, information such as; details about the theoretical strengths and weaknesses of the multitude of Teigus which Stylish observed or read about, the components of the enhanced drugs he created for the Group of Terror and Dark Squad, and secrets which he used to gain his power. Letting a slew of new targets to be found out.

While Esdeath played off with her 'silent anger', she trained Tatsumi to better fight in his normal state. The young man altering his body to be able to not die due to her 'love taps' that could destroy a wall.

In a few moments, after find Seryu trying to hide her tears, Esdeath calmed the monsoon in the mind of the homicidal dog-owner and made her see Esdeath as her god, her embodiment of all that was righteous and just. This perversion of the mind was so when Esdeath told the maniac the truth, she would see the truth of the Empire and join her.

If her words weren't enough to sway the loyalty Ms. Ubiquitous held for the capital. The files she attained should.

The contents talked about the uprooting of a Revolutionary spy who attempted to establish himself as a head of the Capital Defense Force.

He was a good man, accepted no bribes, never kept his eyes away from the problem, surviving MANY assassination attempts ranging from poison to ambush. As this was back before the young Prince was in power, Honest could not order his death or create a fabricated trial. Soon after the Emperor was killed however, the circumstances changed immensely. Corruption skyrocketed and the matter of killing this man became simple. Bribing his closest friend was easy, the man was greedy and had a taste for the finer things in life he could not acquire without taking money on the side.

A good lump of gold and a promotion to the position his dead friend had made it easy to keep the man's mouth shut. Though it turns out he wasn't completely heartless, the backstabber had taken his friends only daughter in. Raised her to be loyal to the Empire and anything, no matter how small an offence, would be met with capital punishment. The little Seryu was raised to see her father as a great figure who was killed by the revolution just as she thought Ogre was.

Esdeath laid the file out on her desk. Tatsumi was wide eyed reading it.

"Seryu's dad was a revolutionary? I… I just can't. It's to crazy to think that, if she were a little older when her dad died, she might be waving the Revolution's flag instead of the Empire's." She was only two when Ogre killed her father and twisting her mind to his viewpoint.

"Understand it or not, it's true." Esdeath had a hard time believing it as well.

"So, you want to tell the others about what we're doing, but when and how?" They had to be extremely careful, any sign of aggression could destroy a peace talk before it even started. And if they got into a fight it could attract others, be it from the Empire or Revolution.

"I've been keeping an eye on Wave, he's just like you were before you saw the truth of this nation. Slowly he's been exposed to the taint from the Empire itself and not just thinking of it entering from the outside." She turned to look through her window, the young seman was practicing his swordsmanship in the courtyard, helping the rookies alongside him as well.

"What about Ran? You've got him involved, well, he was already trying his own way, but if he knew you were joining in. He's smart enough to know it would be a far less bloody battle." The blonde man had acted sad during the announcement of Stylish's death, but like every Jaeger asides Seryu, no one really felt much at the scientist's death. He had not been with them long enough to make any sort of connection.

"He will most likely be able to calm down any anger or shock from those with him, especially if he tells them I personally went to oversee Stylish's death."

"So we have two, it's probably the best to tell one at a time, but Ran and Wave are the most likely to join as of right now." It felt strange, knowing that if for some reason they rejected the agreement, Esdeath herself would help kill them.

"After that, we should either confront Seryu with these papers and me talking to her directly about this, or bring in Bols. That man is only doing this for the wellbeing of his family. If you can insure their safety, he would burn anything." Both difficult in their own rights, but that would be dealt with at a later date.

Tatsumi finally walked up next to his significant other and looked down from her room high in the palace. "Where would we even take them, and on what reasoning?"

Esdeath put her finger on the glass and pointed. It was a spot in the distance, but Tatsumi had almost ended up ambushed by living tree stumps there when he tried to cut through the mountain as a shortcut.

"Mt. Fake has been reported to have an increase in its Danger Beast activity. At night, when the beasts come out in larger and more powerful droves, the four of us will each exterminate one hundred before we leave. I will make the requirements so that we may leave when the sun sets today." For her it would take seconds to destroy the entire mountain, but that was besides the point.

"So how do we tell the Raiders to meet us there?" Saying Night Raid in the palace always made him feel like someone would pop out and find them in the act.

"I actually wanted a specific book, Leone told me of it when I met her to get ice-cream." Tatsumi himself had 'date night', as Esdeath called it, with Leone every thursday. Those nights, he'd be able to make it to the slums to drink with her and see how she was doing. Apparently Night Raid had two more Teigu users, the last ones suitable and trained for assassination missions. But seeing as the man was meeting with both his women on a daily basis, Esdeath knew her and Leone had to get closer too.

"She said it was titled 'Kama Sutra' and that it would be something useful to know in the near future." Esdeath was glad she was facing a window, her grin would have given it away. Leone had told her what the contents of the book were, but Tatsumi wasn't the most knowledgable person when it came to literature. Being an inquisitive young man, he would look through it and skim the pages. She heard from Leone that there were pictures, those would make his face turn from tomato to a fire.

It took all her will to keep her from breaking into laughter at the mere thought of the innocent boy's reaction.

"Got it, I'll tell her to get everyone there before sundown then."

 **XxXx**

The ride to the mountain was quite, well, Wave did chatter aimlessly, but no one listened.

"You can't possibly hold a grudge against me for such a harmless request."

"It was a-" Tatsumi looked at the two Jaegers behind him before bringing his horse closer to Esdeath's and whispering. "That was a book about sex, you knew that and still had me get it. I had to go to three different bookstores to find that and then I buy it and turn a page…" The boy trailed off as he was to embarrassed to say what he saw.

"A woman pleasing her man and a man pleasing his woman." Esdeath knew sex in the Capital was mostly for pleasure of flesh, but this book spoke about the emotional intensity behind it as well.

"When this fighting is over, you might be able to satiate my battle lust with a different type of fighting." She raised her lips in a grin, his stuttering blushing face always made teasing so fun.

Behind the silent couple, Wave talked to Ran. "What are they talking about?" Tatsumi had quieted his voice, but his body language was still screaming.

"Just a lover's quarrel, nothing we should get involved in." Ran was very good at seducing women, so reading body language of a person who guarded their purity was nothing new. Well, seeing it on a _man_ was new, the act itself was one he practiced for years.

"You sure?" Wave wanted to figure someway to help his friend.

"Without a doubt." As he spoke, Tatsumi jumped in his skin and steered his horse away from the General.

 **XxXx**

"74." Wave was starting to get winded, but he wouldn't need to resort to Grand Chariot any time soon.

"82." Run used Mastema in a more close combat style to slice through the monsters as he was unable to aim from afar with the dense tree cover.

"79." Tatsumi would move out of eyesight and punch through a beast every now and them, but he mostly stuck to the short sword he had crafted himself. Though it did get a touch up at the Imperial forge, courtesy of Esdeath. Her one month anniversary present.

"154." Esdeath had finished long ago, sitting on a pile of Danger Beast corpses. Only the strongest or stupidest ones would go out of their way to fight her.

"We've been here for forty minutes. Where the hell are those guys?" Tatsumi was answered when the forest itself attacked the monsters.

Wave was staring confused at the scene, he was so engrossed, he didn't notice a living stump was ready to strike his back.

A yellow laser blasted through the gap between Wave's forearm and torso. Incinerating a majority of the camouflaging beast.

The trees stopped beating when the bodies stopped twitching. Then something weirder happened.

A man who felt just like the forest appeared from a tree splitting open to reveal a hollow trunk. A squirrel scurried down a tree before changing into a redhead. Then the less extreme entrances happened… where the remaining members, sans Mine, were hanging on wire in the air. Their silhouettes only visible with the moonlight from above them.

" **GRAND CHARI** -ah!" Wave instantly attempted to don his armor, when his sword had been taken from his grip.

"Now now, calm down." Esdeath had made a block surrounding the blade of the weapon, now it was just floating around her. "I invited them."

"WHAT!?"

"Huh, he is just like Tatsumi." Leone couldn't help but chuckle. "Try to kill us the first time we meet and then scream 'what' when we actually start talking to you."

"I wasn't that bad."

"Akame."

"You were." The red-eyed assassin backed up Leone and this one.

"What the hell is going on!?" Wave felt like he was going to have a panic attack.

"Let's just explain and catch you up to speed then." Najenda used Susanoo to help her get down from the wires. "Your boss here can tell you if I'm lying or leaving anything out." She got a new cig out before she started her long story. "Leave all questions until the end of the tour and I hope you enjoy."

 **XxXx**

"How could kill your own subordinate!?" Wave couldn't believe something so cold.

"He tried to experiment and kill me, I would have punished him for the Giant Danger Beast fiasco, but when you go against my will, your life is forfeit. Just as your will be if you refuse this offer."

The navy man's fist were clenched so hard his knuckles were white. "And what might that be?"

"Help remove the corruption from the Empire, not just the Capital, this nation as a whole." She started to descend from her pile of corpses. "You have seen the horrible nature of those in the Capital, those that use their power for arbitrary means, to hurt others for their amusement. It sickens you, but you are unable to do anything about it." Wave's eyes grew wide at the General's truth.

"If we do this correctly, then some of the most corrupt people in the entire nation could be taken out all in the same moment. The targets that is would take months to even find out their patrol schedule, let alone plan out the assault. All wiped from this earth in a second."

The General stared hard at the man. "Don't be mistaken, it will not magically remove all their misdeeds, the Empire will be a wreck until a new government of the people places good men into those positions. People who have the nation's best interests in mind.

"So as Night Raid kills in the shadows, we Jaegers will hunt those hiding the light!"

Humanoid statues of ice formed behind her.

"Be it Pawn or Rook." Some grew above the rest.

"Man or woman." Some dolls' chests grew and gained snowy long hair.

"A stranger or partner." Faces grew in detail to show Stylish and random pedestrians.

"All obstacles will fall for the Empire to rise and become even more glorious than before." All the statues shattered, and from them the young Emperor emerged with an outstretched hand.

"Speak Wave, do you wish to see your home destroyed in a bloody war or will you join us to salvage this nation into one grand enough to surpass the glorious age of the first Emperor?" She stood behind Makoto, letting the sculpture hold its hand out for Wave.

"I…" Betraying his nation to save it. Wave was having a hard time understanding.

"Don't worry, Wave, you won't be alone with our leader." Ran placed a hand on his shoulder. "I may not like all the bloodshed, but the General is correct. With her on their side, this war can be ended far quicker than changing the Empire from the inside and it will result in much less lose of life when the Capital soldiers see that one of their strongest fighters has been converted and their squadron of Teigu users have defected as well."

The Angel walked over to the statue and shook its hand. "I do wish to know what the plan is for inducting the rest of the Jaegers after this meeting, if you'd allow me to know, General."

"I do not mind, your voice in these conversions would be quite welcome." She looked back at the sailor. "So Wave, have you made your choice?" Grand Chariot was returned to him.

"Esdeath." Tatsumi couldn't help but groan. "I get that you want a fight if he says no, but can we _please_ hold back on giving potential enemies their weapons back?"

She didn't turn her sight.

Wave closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reaching out and grabbing his sword. No one could feel any harmful intent from the man, his decision was made.

Wave plunged his sword into the ground before the statue of the Emperor, taking a knee and putting his head on his interlocked hands.

"As a loyal member of the Empire, I swear I will do everything to greater improve this nation and I shall not falter in this duty! This is the oath I take as a man, as a soldier, and as a proud citizen!"

The statue lifted the Navy man's face, smiling to him before he dispersed.

"Welcome aboard, Wave." Esdeath held out a hand to pull him up.

He grabbed it. "Glad to be with you."

 **XxXx**

"That was the best outcome, really hope we'll get more of those." Leone stretched her hands above her head.

"Yeah, sucks that it'll probably never be as easy." Tatsumi put his hands over his face as he laid down on the mesa.

"Hush you two, I personally made these, so stop chatting and start eating." Esdeath placed a picnic basket between all of them.

After Wave and Ran joined their coup or whatever they should be called. Esdeath introduced them to the members of Night Raid. They actually seemed to get along pretty well. Susanoo and Ran both sharing a want to keep things tidy, though one much less than the other. Bulat hit on Wave while he asked about the differences between Incursio and Grand Chariot. Despite not having the Teigu anymore, Bulat was able to easily tell him everything he wanted to know. It couldn't damage them anyways since Tatsumi merged with the Teigu and it unleashed a whole new slew of abilities.

As they were chatting, Esdeath told them to leave in ten minutes as to keep the Capital free from suspicion. Yet she herself didn't mount her horse.

When they asked why, they got a simple answer: "I'm having a picnic with my lovers. Leone, Tatsumi, come with me. And remember, 'no' is not an acceptable answer."

Needless to say, Wave couldn't believe that Tatsumi was dating someone alongside the General and that the General was dating the girl as well. Ran wasn't as frozen, but he was surprised to see his leader share her man after being so dominating that Tatsumi was hers. He just chocked it up to this 'Leone' being hers as well.

And that's how we reached here.

"Damn, you're a good cook." Leone hadn't tasted the sadist's food before, she was impressed.

"Just because I lived in a savage tribe, doesn't mean I don't know how to properly season meat. Did you expect us to eat raw meat like you do?"

"That's only when I'm using Lionel and you know it!" Esdeath gave her 'su~re' look as she drank some of the water she brought.

"This is nice though, isn't it? Just the three of us, out under the stars with a full moon." Tatsumi just took it all in. "Wonder if we could do this more when the Revolution is over."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head. 'Course we'll do this." Leone wrapped her arm around him and shoved his face in her chest.

While he didn't squeal and move away, his face did turn red.

"Oh yeah, Snowflake, you bring the book?" The cute moment was ruined by Leone's raunchy mind.

"Yes I did." She reached down the big basket and brought out the book that Tatsumi bought for her earlier that day. "I think I prefer page fifteen, what about you?"

Leone grabbed the book and skimmed through the pages, looking at the pictures. "Hmm, I think page nine is more my style. More wild."

"How can you two talk about this so casually!?" Now he was screaming and backing away.

"It's not that big a deal. We're gonna do it eventually, and I'm sure me and Esdeath think sooner is better than later." Leone nudged the Ice Queen's shoulder.

The General stood and turned around, throwing an ice spear, piercing through the boulder.

"Shit!"

A cloaked man evaded the attack with ease, but his cover was blown.

Esdeath put a hand out, a signal to tell Tatsumi and Leone to not transform… yet.

"Just trying to pass by and I see the Empire's Strongest is out on a date with a hooker and a bumpkin. How could I not want to get a closer look?" The man laughed at the insults he threw.

Esdeath kept herself from killing him so she could do slowly in the torture chambers.

"I was just checking if there was anything to steal at of Stylish's labs, but they were all fucked up, and since you aren't going to let me leave here without a sword at my throat." He reached into his coat's outer pocket.

Esdeath swung her arm to launch a rain of frozen spears.

" **SHAMBHALA!"** A huge symbol appeared underneath the trio and they were engulfed in the Ying-Yang at the center.

As most of the spears were taken in the teleport, a dozen or so stayed.

Syura avoided each lance, but he wasn't expecting them to blow up. When each one touched the ground, it shot out the ice that it was made of in every direction.

As the tan man shouted in pain, he activated his teigu once again.

"DOROTHEA! GET THIS SHIT OUT OF MY BACK!" He placed himself right in the middle of a camp.

"Huh?" A girl with a blue dress looked out of a tent. "Oh, you got hurt? How dumb of a move did you pull?" She held no fear at the man's growl.

"Ice? It should melt on it's own, but you'll need to have your back cleaned and bandaged, but since this is ice…" She moved to look at the man's face. "Did you really try and fight the Capital's Strongest?"

His growling was all she needed.

"Ugh, you're such a hassle. Champ, Enshin, get your asses out here and drag Syura into the my tent." The Vampire sighed as she looked down at her leader. "Do you have any idea on how to fix this, she's going to kill you the next time she sees you."

The arrogant man laughed through his pain. "Don't you worry, I'm gonna make sure that that bitch and her toys fry." His grip on Shambhala tightened.

 **XxXx**

The sea water erupted around them as ice exploded within, killing a decent number of fish.

"W-WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE!?"

All three of them were stumped as they were transported from a night sky on a mountaintop to midday in a tropical island.

...Who's up for a beach episode?

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Maybe not the best line for the end of the chapter, but hey, they recruited Ran and Wave and had their first encounter with Syura. Now they just need to find a way home, Syura sure as shit ain't gonna give 'em a way back after Esdeath blasted his back. Though Es has shown the capability to fly, so it's not gonna be as hard as Syura hoped(well he hoped they would die on that island and never be heard from again)**

 **Anyways, tell me what you think of this chapter, help me improve my skills.**

 **Have an Awesome Day/Night- N.I.A.**


	24. Beaches and Canyons

**Animefan260:** They'll come out when they did in canon.

 **CO8:** I did it to make people giggle so yay. And Wave won't have to suffer two gluttons using all of his money up and eating his hand if they aren't paying attention.

 **TJFW:** How did two of the same reviews pop up? I'd do it if I knew a way to get her to join.

 **Mailbawx:** I might have a timeskip with their grandkid joining the capital and they'll say that their grandparents talked about how good the capital was before they passed, but none of the trio will die during this story.

 **DL:** Looking back at the chapter, I think he just needed to open the portal for them so he could create a different set. I think he has less of a limit than what was shown in the anime. Him having 10 points where he can travel(regardless of distance and from wherever he is) would be more feasible compared to the countless ones he used in the anime. Sure those drugs would let him use the portals more often, but it wouldn't increase the number the Teigu can make.

 **FFH:** I think her and Akame will fight and speak through their battle to understand one another.

 **Guest:** Murasame is more magic than science. When Akame activated her Trump, it didn't alter her on genetic level. She gained an immense power boost, but it changed back and the curse marks are there to cause her pain throughout the rest of her life. The cost for such an awesome power.  
When I change their personalities, I do it in ways that seem like it'd fit them if that actually occurred in the canon. Esdeath being subject to caring and love through 17 years of Tatsumi's memories, Leone having a connection to Lionel where she get roped into the pair since Tyrant followed Tatsumi's wish to not hurt anyone close to him. Akame could never be a sexual deviant, she's just not like that. She might have a different side of her in bed, but she could never act slutty.

 **NOTE: I made an edit to the last chapter, when Syura is at Wild Hunt's camp I altered the dialog to foreshadow something, see if you can guess what's going to happen before it appears later this chapter.**

 **Also, I posted a drabble that is about the story I will write after I finish this one. It takes place near the latest Fairy Tail chapter, giving some hints and teasers about what'll happen by the time the story finally gets that far.**

 **200 FAVORITES! THANK YOU GUYS FOR THIS!**

 **XxXxXxXx**

It took a minute for Tatsumi and Leone to comprehend that they were actually no longer on the mountain. While they were out of it, Esdeath shot herself up to look at their surroundings. As her ice descended, she used the shards in the fish to pull them from the sea into a box of ice.

"Our intruder sent us to an island in a completely different timezone." The two were still starting at the ocean.

"..."

"I wonder if this will work." Esdeath walked between the two and kissed them both.

"AAAHHH!" Tatsumi couldn't believe this happened. "HE TELEPORTED US?!"

Leone was more refined. "Huh, so you didn't drug the food then."

Esdeath scoffed. "I wouldn't do that… unless someone had trouble performing a certain marital duty." She eyed Tatsumi. "Even then, hallucinogenics aren't my forté."

"Back up a second, you said we're on an island?" Tatsumi didn't realize they were talking about him.

"Yes, I took a look from high ground, it's a few dozen miles long and wide. There's a mountain in forest behind you two, it's the only landmark on this island."

She walked past the two towards the flora.

"What are you two waiting for, why don't we make our picnic into an adventure?"

 **XxXx**

Over the course of the day, the three had trekked through the rugged terrain. Finding strange plants like mushrooms that shot spores that next to immediately grew on any surface. Tatsumi found that out when his hair gained them as accessories.

There were some common animals, such as wild boars, or as Leone called it, 'lunch'. But some strange ones would have to be the variant of crab that shot ink. When Tatsumi just used the leaf he was using to fan himself as a shield. The crustaceans got aggressive and all jumped onto the young man. While they didn't hurt thanks to his hardened skin, that didn't stop Leone to laugh at the sight. She got her just desserts as one of the crabs attempted to pinch her, only to cut off her top instead.

One crushed crab and hollowed coconut later, Leone was sporting a coconut bra that used her torn shirt as the string.

Esdeath had a lot to draw in her journal during this time.

Seeing the cold woman drawing her wearing the coconut bra, Leone challenged her to see who could wear a bikini the best.

Since she only had ice to work with, Esdeath decided to just open her coat and walk with her bra exposed.

When Tatsumi was told to judge who was better, he tripped over his tongue. When they shoved his face between their bosoms, he fainted.

A few hours later he woke up to their dinner cooking over a fire.

When they were finished, Esdeath went over her findings. Apparently they were far south-east of the Empire in an uninhabited island. The plants and animals gave it away for her.

Now that they knew where they were, the only question was how were they going to get home.

"You mean you two didn't notice the glowing symbol on the floor where we came from." Esdeath poked her thumb behind her. True to her words, a Yin-Yang symbol was glowing and seemed to smoke.

"It's been there since we came. I imagine it's a tether of some sorts to that 'Shambhala' Teigu." It made sense, no Teigu was without a weakness, Esdeath found out she was no exception just last month. This one could transport anything in the circle any distance away from their current position; 'Point A', but it needed to have a connection to where it was going; 'Point B'. Such a huge movement of distance had to cost much stamina.

"If it takes a lot of energy to use it, then when should he be able to use it again?" Tatsumi was poking the mark with a stick.

"Well, with enough proficiency, I'd say a day considering the distance we traveled."

"How should we get out of here?" Leone was shaking sand loose from her hair.

"We can use my ice to travel like I did when I first met Night Raid, but there are animals that are faster than I. And luckily enough, Air Manta's are more commonly found in the south-east." Though still uncommon, this was their natural habitat so there was a much higher likelihood to see one, if she could sneak up on it, it'd be easy to catch and make it submit to her will.

A piercing screech clashed with the calm sound of the waves. Alongside the noise, a bright light and heat came from where the sound originated.

Above them was, luckily enough, an Air Manta, but the problem was immediately visible.

"What the fuck is that?" Everyone was wide-eyed as the Manta was being burned alive in the red-orange liquid. Less than a second later, the same teleportation symbol that brought them there dispersed from above the lava.

Esdeath put her arms above her Extract mark and spoke. " **MAHADO-** " Someone else was faster.

Without a second's hesitation, Leone transformed and tackled both Esdeath and Tatsumi from the coast and a ways over the water. "ICE!"

Before they fell into the ocean, Esdeath created a sphere of ice and kept going the direction Leone set them on.

The entire island was lit on fire as the molten rock splattered everywhere, destroying all life on the landmass.

"What… the… fuck." Leone took some breaths at going full throttle without any warm up.

"Uh, Leone, what happened to you?" Tatsumi had never seen her like this before.

"Hm?" She looked at herself. Without even thinking, she went all the way to her second stage.

This would be a little strange to explain. "You know how I had a connection to Lionel even when I wasn't transformed, I told you about the night before the three of us hooked up. Well, after I got your blood, the connection grew stronger. Then one time when I was training with Susanoo and Bulat, I was being pushed to my limit. I could feel this power that had welled up in me since that night. It just… erupted out of me, I still can't change at will but, I can go in this form when I'm pushed enough." Her coconut bra had fallen off when she knocked them off the island and revealed that her breasts were covered in fur that trailed along her sides and into her pants. "I wanted to keep it a surprise until I could change whenever, but seems like I needed to use it now." She stared at where the ocean touched the lava, immense amounts of steam filled the air, the hissing drowning out the waves.

"So, that douche tried to burn us alive. Damn, I don't think even I could survive that." Tatsu laid down in the sphere, it was strange to think that something could kill him after fighting with Esdeath whenever she wanted.

Meaning an hour a day at the least and half a day at the most.

"Don't sweat it. If we see him again, we're gonna pay him back the favor." Leone cracked her knuckles. "But right now, I think you've got the right idea. We've been awake for nearly two days." Leone yawned. "I could go for some sleep."

"I can keep taking us towards the continent, but it'll take me some time so I'll wake you when we get there." Esdeath shifted the ice so behind the circular front it straightened so the two could lay down flat.

But Tatsumi didn't want to leave her like this. "No, I'm good, watch." His eyes held more energy and his posture less slack. "I can just produce the chemicals I need to stay awake. I don't **need** sleep to keep my body fine." 'I need it so I won't feel like I'm going crazy.' Staying awake for 24/7 would wear away at anyone's mind. "Now let me sit down next to you."

Esdeath pouted, but she knew that he only wanted to be kind. The sphere changed and then one bench was created for them to sit on while she followed the stars and went north-west towards the capital.

A furry warm body appeared at her other side. "I'm not just gonna leave you alone like this either. I figure you'd join us and just freeze the ocean to keep our position or something. If you're going to take us all the way to land, I can keep myself from falling asleep until you do." She clawed at her arm, the wound regenerating as she traced her finger along it. "A dose of adrenaline and I'm all set."

Esdeath sighed. "You too are crazy, but I'm not exactly sane myself.

The three snuggled together, finally reaching the supercontinent that the Empire was located on at around sunrise.

When they touched down. Tatsumi and Leone fell asleep, Esdeath felt her own eyes droop as well. She expanded the bubble into a box and elevated them onto a slab of ice.

Though the room was cold, she never felt warmer than in their arms.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Isn't that an adorable endi-**

 ***CRASH***

 **Who threw this rock through my window? Hm, it says "look at the word count."**

… **that would be 1.7K… well I need more content… TO THE FUTURE!**

 **XxXxXxXx**

In just a few days, the ménage à trois made it back to the capital. Esdeath's seemingly unlimited stamina had been their greatest asset as the woman was able to transport them hundreds of miles a day. A few months of walking was shortened to a week of flying.

After a brief stop to drop off Leone, Tatsumi and Esdeath arrived at the Capital. There were many questions of their whereabouts. And a couple hours of questioning later, they were able to just go to their room and empty their minds… for a few second before the Jaegers came and asked as well.

Wave was the worst of the bunch. Ran had to keep him calm and convince him that Night Raid wasn't at fault. The teacher couldn't blame him for thinking that they were involved. Their leader went with two of their members out on her own and never came back.

Bols had been stress cooking and Kurome was stress eating… okay that's a lie, she just loved his cookies.

Seryu would have had a panic attack if Ran didn't play psychiatrist for her. She told him all her fears and he calmly and soothingly talked her through them. Gaining some intelligence on her along the way, whether or not Esdeath had this information was unknown, but it was best to gather it in the situation that she didn't.

After everyone was told the same thing about the strange man that teleported them there and attempted to burn them alive, the two could finally plan.

When Leone was dropped off, Najenda had given them a small piece of information. 'The Path of Peace is next.'

Esdeath knew that they were going to have an uprising and that the Prime Minister had seen it smart to plant someone into the group. Roric or Boris, someone she couldn't care less about.

It seemed as though the man had been successfully completing his mission. He had developed a smaller faction within the church that supported the Empire, as such, no information about them planning to make a martyr of their leader could be spread in their ranks.

If Night Raid were to assassinate the man, the Revolutionary Army would hold much more power, but there were still some people she needed to convert before that. Namely; Seryu, Bols, and Kurome. Budo would be a wall against any fight to the Empire, even explaining her deal that she made to the Revolutionary army might not be enough to convince him. But her Jaegers, they held the highest possibility to side with her. Her army stationed in the north would follow her to hell itself, they were as loyal as could be. When the rest of the armies start their move, she'd send word to them and tell them about her betrayal and order for them to join her.

An encirclement of the Capital and a strike from its heart, the final battle would be swift and precise.

Tatsumi bit the apple he grabbed from the food cart. "So we have Seryu, even if she might need to be called K.I.A. to keep her from going on a rampage in the Capital itself." He took another bite. "Bols just wants his family to be safe…" Tatsumi felt sorry for the man, he had only fought on the Empire's orders, on the inside he was a good father and husband. "Kurome is still the only one we can't understand."

Esdeath had a thoughtful expression on her face. "We might not be able to understand her, but someone else can."

Tatsumi's eyes widened. "We have no idea if Kurome will completely disregard your presence and attack. She's been dreaming about killing Akame for years."

"We're not going to stop them."

If Tatsumi wasn't inside he'd be screaming. "What are you talking about?!" Whisper shouting was good enough for him though.

"It's the same thing as what happened to us. We fought, and through that we understood each other. Our ideals and views may have differed at the time, but we saw the resolve held in our hearts." She put her hand on his chest. "Had it not been for Tyrant, I hold no doubts that we would be enemies right now, and I would be unable to care for you as I do now."

"Esdeath…" Tatsumi just hugged her.

"Don't make me feel like a doll." Though she loved his concern. "Now all we need to do is find a suitable location for them to speak through their swords." She ran her hands in his hair.

"Can't Mount Fake work again?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes."

"Why do I feel a 'but' coming."

"But, roughly a month before she entered the Jaegers, she found herself a monster perfect for her Yatsafusa to control. It was incredibly powerful, but it was on the brink of death, so Kurome was able to easily kill it. That monster was a Super-Class Danger Beast; Death Tagool."

 **XxXx**

After nearly having a panic attack, Esdeath calmed Tatsumi down enough for him to listen to the rest of her idea.

A week later, all the Jaegers were three days away from the Capital due to a Night Raid sighting. Esdeath had taken Seryu, Kurome, and Ran to the West into a canyon. While Tatsumi had Wave and Bols to the north into more bandit infested territory.

Lubbock had surrounded the forest on the top of the canyon strings to prevent anyone from intruding. Now she just needed to separate the two. The easiest job to do today.

A giant wall of ice emerged from the floor, Esdeath's demon horse kept going without even flinching, Ran's tried to run away, but he calmed it down. Seryu was bucked off her horse, but she was caught by Koro, the pudgy dog had been dragged along the floor for the last couple days so his fur was matted and dirty. Kurome had been able to jump off her steed, immediately unsheathing her sword and ready for a fight.

The two girls were surrounded by three ice walls and a face of the canyon. Seeing as only one direction was possible for combat, both looked up. Allowing the vines sprouting from the ground to grab them with ease.

Kurome had sliced off the first few with no problem, yet as they kept coming faster and from all around her, she couldn't keep up. The vines all lunged at her as one, but she wasn't their target.

Yatsafusa was yanked from her hands, but as the vine clambered up the rock wall, Kurome jumped up the ledges and quickly grabbed the Teigu's hilt.

The vine was shot off and she was caught by a masked spearman.

More vines started to grow, they were all destroyed as a giant frog came up and vomited stomach acid over the flora. Instantaneously they went from a solid to a liquid.

On Seryu's side, the vines were much less of a problem. Kurome had taken most of the attention of whoever controlled the plants.

While the vines were less of a problem, she had to deal with something worse.

Koro was in a warped and disgusting state. Before the mutt had been able to grow gigantic, his body was surrounded by strings. As he grew, the strings didn't break, leaving his flesh poking out from the spaces between the string, oozing blood as he fought with all his might to break free.

Seryu wasn't standing around as her dog was in pain. She looked for any more string surrounding her as well as where the string led to.

Lubbock was yanking and trying to walk back with all his might, but he kept getting dragged closer to the crazy girl as Hekatonkhieres was fighting to break the strings. He had tried securing himself around some trees, but all of them were snapped after seconds.

His hair was only slightly visible above the canyon wall now, but gunfire was aimed at him. All of it missed since Seryu's weapon was made for close to mid range, but that didn't stop the pervert's yelp of fear.

A massive earthquake shook the floor as everything seemed to stop.

A colossal skeletal hand shot up from the ground, grabbing the wall of ice in front of it to pull itself out. As the head of the monster came up, the wall could take no more and collapsed.

Before the beast was fully out of the floor, it turned its head to the top of the canyon, energy sparking and gathering in front of its mouth. Kurome had planned for it to skim the area above them to leave her and the other Jaegers unharmed, but something different happened.

Esdeath appeared over the cadaver, ice around her wrists and ankles to let her fly. She kicked the empty air in front of her. A giant leg of ice followed suit and kicked the monster's head up.

The blast made all of the stray clouds be blown away, since it wasn't at its full height, the blast burned through part of the rock and forest.

"Bulat, Lubbock, Kurome, Seryu. All of you stop."

The vines stopped attempting to grab Kurome's sword and shrank into the earth, and the strings receded to let Koro free. Seryu ordered the dog back into its dormant state. Kurome still kept her strongest monster out.

"I had thought disarming you would be best before I spoke to you of this matter, but it seems that if this continued, you would never be able to trust them."

Seryu just questioned her leader. "General, what do you mean? Why- How do you control our enemy's troops?"

"I believe it'd be better if you read this before you are told." Ran kicked up dust when he landed on the ground beside her.

As Ran dealt with the dog owner. Esdeath floated down to Kurome.

"You're just like her, aren't you?" Kurome held her sword towards her commanding officer. Esdeath just turned her head to the forest above her. With a nod, a blur jumped down the wall.

Kurome's eyes widened at the sight. Focusing all her attention on the newcomer. "You… you ran from the Capital, joined the Revolution, but here we are, seeing each other after so long." Her Apeman ran forward and tried to smash her sister. It was turned into a statue as Esdeath let Akame keep walking. "Everyone that I cared about, they all left me." Doya's bullets and Natala's spear met a wall of ice. "That's why I won't let you leave here." Kurome's eyes seemed insane. "You'll be mine, with me forever and ever."

Akame still walked forward, not unsheathing her blade.

"You're just going to let me kill you?" Kurome tilted her head in confusion. Wall and Henter could deal with any surprise attacks she had. Akame held no knowledge of what any her puppets could do, so if anything, she would be surprised.

So why did she keep strolling forward.

"RRAGH!" Kurome screamed as moved to slash her sister. Her blade gained a layer of ice and was unable to move the single inch that separated Akame from death.

"Esdeath had believed we could only settle our differences through conflict. That our minds had warped so much that we could not understand one another anymore." Akame reached out for her sister's face. Her eyes widened, but she didn't move away.

"I thought that too, for so long I could see no way to help you other than saving you from the Empire's darkness." Akame shook her head. "I was a fool. I only thought of us being able to meet where both of us had our weapons." Kurome saw that Akame only had Murasame's sheath, the blade wasn't there. "I never considered us meeting as sisters and not enemies. Funny enough it was suggested by someone on your side." Akame smiled at her sister. "I know we can never be like we once were, but I'm begging you to consider coming with us. The strength of the Revolution has grown immensely. Esdeath herself can fight an entire flank, with her own army, they add thousands of people who are already veterans and know the layout of the Capital." Kurome's head swam, she let go of her sword and stumbled backwards before she fell.

"Kurome!" Akame ducked under the floating Yatsafusa and placed her sister's head on her lap.

The puppet user was scrambling to grab her candy bag, but double vision made that difficult.

"Here." She felt a cookie placed against her lips. The drug took effect instantly as she was able to see her sister holding her pouch.

"Your body has become dependent on these drugs, but if you join us, we might be able to help you. The doctor who received Stylish's Perfector, he also got his notes on what he put in your drugs. If he can study it, he has a chance at developing a cure. Until then, we could stay together. There's a special spring that has been able to extend a terminal patient's life well past anyone's understanding. I can stay with you there, helping you get better one step at a time." Akame put her forehead on her sister's. "Please, let us save you."

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Thanks to FanFictionHunter for being my Beta here.**

 **Isn't that an adorable ending? The only thing that could mess this up is if Kurome tries to strangle her sister, but since that hasn't happened yet, don't think it will.**

 **I originally thought that it'd be best if they had to fight to explain their feelings, but that's when they see each other as someone who hurt them, who they'll never forgive. They didn't see the other as family despite the fact that they held such love. So I thought 'what if they couldn't kill each other, if they had to talk to explain how they felt and how they wanted to 'save' the other' This is what came from that, hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Right, before I forget, I want to ask you guys to check out my friend's story; Justaguy35** ' **Natsu the grand runesmith'.** **You should know his name from this story's description. If you want to thank him for that, please go read his story and leave him a review.**

 **Have an Awesome Day/Night- N.I.A.**


	25. Denial and Death

**Mailbawx:** Thanks.

 **EDA:** Well that comment sounded rude. If you have actual criticism, say what's wrong and don't just complain. If it was a compliment, it'd be better worded like; 'I'm a sucker for sappy scenes.' since the just saying this is getting sappy doesn't get the point across if you did or did not like that chapter.

 **DL:** Well Ran is talking to Seryu about what was in the file and some other Night Raid members are going to meet up with Tatsumi's group.

She's mentally unstable, so she's always difficult to capture.

She can willingly exit that form, but she still hasn't been able to enter it as such. Also, the coconut bra just got loose, so she could have just picked that up and strapped it on again. Or go by a city on their way up from the south and stole a shirt.

 **Guest(1):** Mischievous? Yeah, that sounds more likely. She did tease Leone without even noticing(the weight comment when they were on the boys when they did push-ups). So her teasing people is pretty plausible, just needs to hang out around Leone and Chelsea more.

 **NIS:** Well Dorthy basically took other people's life and added it to her's (she could honestly be the original wielder of it from 1,000 years ago), but Tatsumi won't be immortal. Leone will have better healing in that state, she'll be like Wolverine in the sense that only a shot to the head could stop her, even then it'd just mess with her mind. Esdeath hasn't had any changes asides from her mind, her body and power are the same as before.

 **FFH:** 6/7 isn't bad.

 **Guest(2):** Thank you

 **TJFW:** She pissed him the FUCK off. Syura is impulsive and thought he had a win, how was he supposed to know she could fly? Or that she could freeze time?

Leone probably stole some tequila.

The two of them have to get closer, if they couldn't stand each other and their lives would be miserable.

Wild Hunt, despite EVERYONE'S animosity, will not be taken down in one fell swoop… if I plan this out correctly then they will be just as big a pain to the cast as in the canon, if not more.

Budo… UGH, he's such a wall to get past, I can't think of a good way to make him join or make him against what Es is going to do..

Eh, different opinions, different views.

 **Forgot to say this at the end of the last chapter. The lava bit is canonical. Shambhala doesn't have a Trump Card in the Manga, it's only been hinted that if Syura was going to be killed or taken by the enemy, he could do a suicide attack and create a portal to an active volcano, bathing the area in lava. I don't think it impossible for him to create a portal between two 'Point B' locations, just that he wouldn't see the use in it since, for any location other than an island, there's no guarantee that the people there would stay there.**

 **Decent response for the last chapter, thanks for that. Now to finish Seryu and Bols.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

This was the spot, the Revolution said that here there would be Teigu users coming through. They'd fall sooner or later to their immense numbers.

If one group was able to get the most even by one, then they'd be the top dog. That's why it was a free for all. Fighting someone with a Teigu when you don't have one is suicidal. Which was the only reason all these raiders banded together.

The specified time was about now and they were just about to get the drop on them.

Dozens of highwaymen poured into the cave, some rappelling from the top, most running in from the sides.

The battle cry died down as the cave was void of their target, but that didn't mean it was bare.

Blood lined the wall alongside scorch marks, fire still burned in some corners, and a piece of a cloth mask was stuck under a rock, keeping the wind from blowing it deeper inside.

"Gentlemen, I regret to inform you, but my master has already dealt with the situation she originally called you here for." A man with blue hair and horns was behind the mob that entered the cave, surprising the part of the bandits that remained outside. He just came from nowhere.

"Yet as you all pillage, plunder, rape, and thieve. I do not regret to wipe you from this earth." The man's staff opened up and spinning razors came out from the end.

 **XxXx**

Esdeath saw the younger sister break into tears, sitting up to hug her family close. As they were doing well, she wondered how Ran was dealing with Seryu.

With a wave of her hand, the ice separating the two groups was shattered to a fine powder. As the snow fell, Esdeath saw Ran evading punches and kicks from Seryu.

"YOU'RE LYING, CAPTAIN OGRE WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" She sounded like she was going to break into tears. "MY FATHER WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SO DESPICABLE AS TO BE A REVOLUTIONARY!"

Ran used his wings to move away from each hit. "I know it's hard to understand, but it's true."

"NO IT'S NOT!"

"Seryu." The mentally strained girl turned to see her leader.

"G-general, what, what's going on!?" She felt like pulling out her hair.

"Everything that you see before you is true." Esdeath knelt down to pick up Koro, the dog had been unable to function properly since Seryu's mind had become a storm.

"I have betrayed Honest and all of those in high standing who uses their power for selfish means. I have struck a deal in which the Emperor and all of my subordinates are able to keep their lives. As long as the Revolution does not harm them in any way, I will not attempt to murder them with all my power. Those files you received are no forgery, it was a miracle that someone managed to keep these records from being burned or altered. And finally, Ran, Wave, Tatsumi, and, now, Kurome, have all joined the revolution alongside me. Bols is also being convinced to join at this very moment." She just pet the dog throughout the listing off. "Is there anything you wish to say or know?"

"Why do you betray us!? If you didn't join them, you and Great General Budo could have dealt with their army with an incredible chance of success from our forces. Why are you betraying your nation!?"

Esdeath took a calming breath. "You heard of the mansion that held all of the victims of Night Raid, the 'meat locker' where dozens of random country people were poisoned and beaten to death?"

Seryu nodded.

"That was a lie, the mansion exists, but it does not belong to them. Night Raid single handedly killed every guard and the parents of a small girl before she herself was cut in half."

Esdeath looked somewhat sad as she was remembering what Tatsumi saw.

"The Father and Daughter both loved to physically beat their victims, hanging them from chains and whipping their naked bodies. The Mother, however, took to chemicals as her way to play. Poisoning their captive's food and water to make them suffer from diseases that would slowly and painfully kill them over time. Such were the owners of the house."

Seryu didn't believe her.

"But, we serve them, we serve justice to those that are evil and deserve punishment…"

"No, we deal with those that threaten the position of the Prime Minister and his cohorts. Many of whom kill, rape, accept bribes, and destroy others' livelihoods. Nothing of what you have done has been 'justice'."

"N-no." Seryu was the quietest that anyone had heard. "I've only killed the bad guys, they wanted to destroy the Empire, they couldn't have been trying to save it." She seemed to be trying moreso to convince herself than the two near her.

"Those that you kill have their reasons for their deeds, some just, some not. Bandits or Robbers who think nothing of their own gain or harming others? They will be seen guilty and thrown in jail to rot like they should; a chance to truly pay for their crimes. Death is a shortcut to where they will eventually reach. And those that they drag down into their depths through means like blackmail or extortion, they shouldn't be seen in the same light. In a hypothetical situation where someone had Tatsumi where I couldn't reach and they could kill him, I would do anything they asked of me." She felt the same for Leone, but Seryu hadn't encountered the blonde so using her in the example wouldn't convey the same weight to the insane brunette.

"But…" Seryu tried to come up with some response, some way to show she had been good and kind.

"I was told of the young thief you, Tatsumi, Wave, and Kurome ran into. Tell me, if you were the one to give him a punishment, would he still be walking around?"

Seryu opened and closed her mouth, unable to give a response.

"He would have been consumed by Koro and left this world without a trace." It was the cold honest truth.

Seryu had done well holding back tears, but she could do so no longer and fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands.

 ***Groon***

She looked past her hands to vaguely see Koro through her watery eyes. The dog only held his nubs out. Seryu copied and opened her arms. Koro leapt on her and hugged with enough might to not harm her.

"It matter's not what you **have** done, not now. What does, is what you **will** do now that you have been given this information." She felt pity for the girl, what she thought was right was thrown on its head. Similar to what happened to her, but at least Esdeath's view wasn't shattered, just altered.

"I ***hic*** I-" The girl wasn't fit enough to form a proper sentence, her tears were to much.

"Don't answer until you are in clear enough mind to not be swayed by guilt. The only thing that is required for you to stay alive is for you to stop working for the Empire. If you are unwilling to fight, while you still need to join the Revolution to prevent our splinter group from being found out, you can stay as a messenger or something of the sort." Esdeath had a fair share of soldiers leave after a great battle, some from physical trauma and others mental. She didn't think bad of them, they were weak enough to get hurt or to not overcome their pain, but they weren't machines like her.

Humans can't hope to reach her level without being trained throughout their whole life since birth (with the exception of a few certain people fusing with their weapons) and no one truly had her vision of strength, but that didn't make them lesser.

At least, that's what she's found out by being with Tatsumi.

"You have plenty of time, so be sure to think it through and don't rush." Esdeath turned from Seryu as she spoke. Walking over to the girl's horse, it stopped its horrified bucking when Esdeath made it feel like it was near a dragon. A few seconds later, Esdeath brought the scared mammal to the insane girl while holding some rations she obtained from the bags on the horse.

"Eat something too, you haven't had anything since this morning." While the Ice Queen was great at causing pain and anguish, she had much more trouble helping someone without having an ulterior motive of manipulating them.

This felt _way_ to awkward for her.

On the other side of the snow bank, Kurome had finally composed herself. The only proof of her tears were the streaks on her face and her eyes being bloodshot.

"Did you mean what you said?" She hoped against hope that this was true.

"Every word. With Esdeath joining us and being successfully planted deep within the Empire, the Revolution's victory is a fact. I wish to keep fighting to more quickly and easily end this bloodshed, but if you want to leave this place behind us, I can go with you." The red eyed killer loved her friends and would die for them, but if it meant saving her sister's life, she would bear the pain of leaving.

"I… we've lived like this for so long, I don't know any other way to be."

"The Revolution pays Night Raid once a month for our employment, just enough for basic necessities, but Night Raid also receives money from the contracts we complete. With my face I couldn't really buy anything, so while you're getting better, I can hunt for food and use my funds to help us get a home. I can even sell hide and extra meat when we run low." It wasn't perfect, but she couldn't stop smiling. She was able to talk with her sister without needing to beat back a puppet or a sword for the first time since she left.

"I… I don't want you to sacrifice so much for me, we've been through more pain than most people can imagine. I just want the two of us to be happy." Kurome finally picked herself up from Akame's lap and sat with her back to her. "Maybe we should stay here."

"What do you mean, the longer we take to heal you, the less time you'll have on this Earth!"

"I know that, but… you still have so much to fight for. All of your friends will be in this war, and I don't want you to be haunted by your regrets of not fighting with them." Kurome didn't turn to look her in the eye. "For so long I felt anger and hatred towards you fester inside me. I was waiting to finally see you again and kill you, but now? I've finally come to regret those emotions. If I had gone with you all that time ago, none of our pain would have been so great, we would have had each other, to help stay strong when someone dies, to protect when we're on the battlefield, even to just talk to…"

"Kurome…" Akame put her hand on her little sister's shoulder

"Don't be a sad sack, Akame." Her arms shook as her eyes welled up with tears once again.

"Huh, looks like I'm no better." Kurome took a deep breath.

"Kurome... just for the rest of the day, why don't we talk about the good things we've seen and done instead of our fears?"

The black-eyed girl looked over her shoulder to her older sister, tears going down her face with a smile. "I'd like that."

 **XxXx**

A few hours later, the sun was setting and camp was made.

The sisters had talked the entire time, telling stories about their friends and (mis)adventures that had happened during their time apart.

Seryu had stayed far from everyone and gazed at the sky, thinking.

Ran stayed as close to her as he could without burdening her. Waiting for the moment she would either break down, in which he would help her understand and make a decision on her own, or run, where he would unfortunately have to kill her.

Bulat and Lubbock stayed off to the side, giving Akame privacy to be with her little sister. Though she would often point to Lubbock and Kurome would bend over laughing. It made him so unnerved that he tried to read their lips, which failed horribly and he just started making up what they were saying under his breath.

"Oh he's such an idiot. Ahahahaha." The green enthusiast changed the pitch of his voice to a daintier one that wouldn't suit any girl alive.

"Then, there was one time when he fought a-"

"You're still doing that?" Bulat had just came back from collecting tinder, kindling, and firewood.

"You left me here to my own devices, you knew this was inevitable!"

"I asked you to come along and you know it." The muscular man dropped the materials on the floor and got to work starting a fire.

"... So where's Esdeath?" His attempt to change the subject worked, or Bulat didn't care that Lubba stayed back to laze about.

"She went to meet Tatsumi and Boss to see how their conversion went."

"Oh, knowing my dear sweet Najenda, she convinced him to join with a few words.

 **XxXx**

Esdeath stood silent in a cave, random bodies, mostly male, were strewn about. Blood and guts were visible no matter where she looked.

"So that was his choice?"

Najenda took a drag as Susanoo replied. "Correct."

"Do you have the letter?"

"Right here." Najenda pulled out a sealed envelope from her inner jacket pocket and gave it to Esdeath.

"Is that all, or do you have more proof for me to take asides his mask?"

"We got Rubicante back at camp, we could break off the mouth of it, but if that happens, you wouldn't be able to hand that piece back to us and let us repair it without giving you immense suspicion."

"I see, I think it would be best if I had the broken part. I can deal with any excess attention down the line, but right now it would be the strongest point in the case of Bols being dead."

Esdeath grabbed the mask that remained under a stone the entire day.

"Where is he anyways?"

"Anzen'na basho."

"That far to the West?"

"Well, he's stopping at Chūtohanpa so his wife and daughter can catch up and travel with him."

"I see, it's always a shame to lose such a fine soldier, but it was his choice to hold no part in this conflict so he could save his family from such strife.

"Now then, I will accompany you to your base to retrieve that Teigu part."

"Sure it's not because you wanna see your boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"That is an added bonus, yes."

Najenda couldn't help but smile. Esdeath was once a maniacal sociopath who held no real emotions, someone whose presence could be seen and felt long after she left. Now she was helping clean the corruption from the government and blushing when thinking about meeting her lovers. This change was a beautiful one.

Esdeath would have to agree.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Just to be 100% clear, Bols isn't dead and he didn't join the Revolution. The choices they are given are -Join -Leave or -Die. Join means you help the Revolution, Leave is them distancing themselves from the conflict and taking no side, Die is killing them to not give the Empire the knowledge of the splinter cell inside of them.**

 **Anzen'na basho, through the power of Google Translate is 'Safe Place' in Japanese and Chūtohanpa is 'Half Way'... I'm not creative with names… I did the same for where Mine/Sheele and Akame/Lubbock teams went when Bulat/Tatsumi went to the Ryusen. I think it was 'Somewhere' and 'Over there', but I'm not entirely sure.**

 **So I wrote, like, 1.3k of this today, as in the day this is published… I gotta get this done on a more timely manner.**

 **For those of you like me who read the comment response of other people, what do you think I'm going to do with Wild Hunt, there may have been foreshadowing in this chapter. And to not give anything away, I won't respond to those parts in the reviews.**

 **Have an Awesome Day/Night. -N.I.A.**


	26. Frustrations Aren't Stopping Time

**DL:** I think it was a government order that sent him to the Jaegers. Such is why Stylish and Kurome came as well when both work better when left to their own devices.

… Maybe at some point.

Thank you.

 **FFH;** Game of Thrones has a plot and the deaths of characters help drive others. The Walking Dead is the walking dead, so…

 **TJFW:** He didn't insult Tatsumi and the three were actually together. Canon the relationship was one-sided so while Esdeath would be enraged at someone insulting Tatsu, she'd be murderous… more than normal, since her feelings being reciprocated would make her like him even more.  
They were a little help if Bols were to stay with the Empire, plus, luring them there to kill the raiding problem was killing 2 birds with one stone for them.

Wild Hunt; Night Raid got the drop on them AND teamed with the Jaegers for a small bit. A battle versus Teigu wielders has only one outcome… unless you run away.

Sheele only survived here since she had a distance attack, even then she had a gash on her side that would have definitely bled out if she wasn't in a lab with stitches, gauze, and pain killers.

The thing about Budo, he knows Honest is bad and the Empire is corrupt. It's just that his family's pride is on the line as they have protected this Empire for generations. That's why Budo said after the Revolution was stamped down, he'd deal with Honest… then Mine killed him and you know where it goes from there.

She can be insane, but her mind is clear. 'They are bad, I will kill them'. It was a constant thought since her 'justice' is black and white. When Koro came to her she was only wanting someone to console her.

Thank you.

 **Animefan260: I'm still** Yeah, like what I told Jade (comment directly above)

 **THE Arch Gnome(Guest):** Thank you.

 **Guest(2):** Ha! Dang, now I wish I did something like that as an omake.

 **Guest(3):** She wouldn't act like the one we know, but her base ideals and beliefs wouldn't change if she just spent time with them. Through the series, we did see her get closer to Tatsumi and show her true feelings when things got rough. But she remained strong despite the pain and grief.

 **Actual question, should I use Esdese instead of Esdeath? And Borick or Bolic? Depending on the votes, I'll go back to the chapters to replace Es and just quickly change this chapter from Borcik to Bolic(by default I'm using Borick).**

 **XxXxXxXx:**

The funeral was on a clear and sunny day. Bird chirped, flowers bloomed, all-in-all, the world was in a tranquil state.

Nearly the entire Jaeger squadron was in attendance. All present wore black clothes in contrast to the bright day.

The wife of the 'departed' held a strong front to keep her child from breaking down, but tear stains were evident on her face. As her eyes were glossed with tears, many of the Teigu team wanted to tell her the truth, but doing so would ruin everything.

Bols was weeks away from the Capital, waiting patiently for his wife and child to arrive.

The investigation into his death was open and shut, Esdeath provided the location and scraps of the man's belongings. While Tatsumi and Wave spoke of how Night Raid ambushed them alongside countless raiding parties. Considering the sheer numbers combined with Teigu wielders. It was a small miracle that they survived, but the story of Bols buying them time was completely plausible. Despite the burly man having a loving wife and child. He would risk his life to save his companions.

Ironically, the traitor was given a hero's burial.

When they arrived, not many were there.

His family was a given, as well as his newest compatriots, some unknown faces were there too. Most likely those he knew from the incendiary section of the military. Probably his Commanding Officer and those who he burned down villages with.

Wave was one of the Jaegers who had not come, he was unsure of how he could hold himself together at seeing his friend's wife in so much pain without telling her the truth. He focused those feelings into his practice as he made sure to be seen by many people in the training grounds.

Seryu, while she was still confused about how she felt about the situation, had sat at the edge of the service. Holding Koro and using the sadness and frustration of the last week fuel her act until it was real.

Kurome wasn't an assassin for nothing. Her face was completely devoid of emotions, but her eyes betrayed her. She had always shown reactions to those dieing around her, but here she just felt sadness at losing someone who could have been her friend.

Ran stayed silent and calm. When his friend's wife struggled to hold back her tears, he helped distract her child or keep her together. Though his face didn't falter and voice not waver, his mind went back to the horrible scene he saw in his class, the blood covering the room, the stench of death and even sex. It took all his will to keep himself from lashing out like he did when he first found them.

Tatsumi had his head against Esdeath's shoulder and just sat there watching the entire service go about. He had locked his hand with Esdeath's long ago, afraid to let her go.

Even though she wasn't there, Leone could feel the sadness in Tatsumi's heart at the idea of this funeral being a possibility for one of them. Her want to comfort him was soothed by Esdeath.

The Winter General, held him close and just made him understand that they'd always be there with him. No words were exchanged, but the sentiments were able to be understood without difficulty.

As the funeral reached its end, the sun that had been high in the sky had fallen as the world would soon be engulfed in night.

All that was left to do was wait. When Bols' family left to attend his funeral, Esdeath had delivered the letter that the gentle giant left. It should have Bols' confession of being alive, where he would be, and something that proved it was him and not a trick. Alongside it was probably an apology of lying and hurting them so badly.

The idea to explain the sudden move of the family was that their home was to much of a reminder of him and that they couldn't bear to live with it. As such, they would travel away from the capital and towards his location.

 **XxXx**

While some of the Jaegers held fear towards the idea, it seemed to work as the beautiful woman left with her child. They packed essentials like food and clothes, but left the furniture there to rot alongside the toys that had been left to gather dust.

It was a sweet thought, the couple coming back together after thinking they'd never see the other. Kurome had rolled an eye when Tatsumi and Wave teared up at the scene, but inwardly, she felt the same.

While the Mrs. ran from the Capital, Esdeath had to assign some of her most trustworthy guards trail the two, as well as one hide as the coachman and drive them to the correct location. Their safety was paramount as Bols could tell the Captial everything if they were to die trying to reach him and they could have prevented it.

Seryu had been one of the only ones to see them leave during the impromptu move, having come over to give a gift. She had made something for the little girl who lost a father, just like her. While the stitching was a bit uneven and stuffing was poking out. The child gladly accepted the Koro look-alike doll. Even though it'd probably break apart during the journey, the little angel said she'd patch up any hole and come back and show the guard how well she took care of the 'pet' she gave her.

 **XxXx**

As soon as she returned to the Palace, Seryu found out she left at the perfect time.

While she had gone to give the little girl a gift before she disappeared, the rest of the Jaegers received an order from the Prime Minister himself.

Bolic, a man placed inside the Path of Peace by the Empire to heard those closer to glorious… no, he was a man who drugged and raped countless women. He had no shred of morality within his body. If Seryu didn't feel so dead inside, she'd probably be jumping and shouting for his head. Even Koro was reserved, dangling when Seryu dragged him along instead of flailing in the air. Anyways, that man asked the Prime Minister for more protection against these death threats he had been receiving. Now they were on their way to the Kyoroch by carriage, Night Raid was probably on their way there too. Esdeath had developed a marvelous communication system, by memorizing the layout of the sewer system and dropping a single snowflake down the drain. She could order the ice to move accordingly until it reached the drop off point. Though apparently only this girl named 'Leone' could read them. Seryu didn't understand the connection between the two, but it was said that they could understand the other just by focusing on certain emotions hard enough.

Oh, apparently Najenda and Esdeath though that was too much of a gap for a whole team of Teigu users to come along.

Honestly though, Seryu wasn't sure if she still had a will to live, let alone care about being branded a traitor. If they had a mole, so what? The two leaders said the most likely reasons were that there was a mole in the Revolutionary scouts, or Honest thought that Bolic was to important of a piece to lose. Either way, Seryu looked out of the window blankly and slept as much as she could to leave this world for an empty dreamless void.

 **XxXx**

A month was how long their journey took. With the Jaegers being the passengers and alternating driver, it was easy for Tatsumi and Esdeath to go out in the night and meet up with someone. The distance that needed to be covered was unknown, but they would leave at sunset and return to take their shift for night watch.

According to Ran, they were meeting a shared lover. Gossip never really interested her, but the idea of the General and Tatsumi being involved with another person made her think about something other than if this method to save the Capital was the right one.

When the group made it to the holy land of the Path of Peace, they were able to get a shower with actual plumbing before being invited to the lavish dinner of the night. Luckily for them, appropriate dresswear was given.

Seryu herself wore a green open-back dress with white gloves that nearly reached her shoulders.

Kurome had a short cut pink dress with a red sash.

Wave's black suit looked good on him, but he couldn't tie his tie. Kurome tried to help, but when he started to fidget to much, she threatened that she'd make the knot into a noose if he kept that up. Needless to say he was as still as a rock after that.

Ran wore a white suit that greatly contrasted the black turtleneck sweater he had on underneath.

Esdeath wore a golden dress that faded to white as it got lower. Around the collar and sleeves there was a material that seemed more like black fur than the dress' normal silk.

Next to her, Tatsumi was trying to keep his cowlick down in vain, eventually giving an exasperated sigh of defeat. Esdeath was probably the one who picked out his outfit as he had a matching gold motif like her. It wasn't an overpowering shade, it fit well with him. His dark hair and green eyes stood out the most.

A little meet and greet happened before they were finally able to get to the man they were sent here to protect.

Seeing him in person, turns out Seryu's thoughts of the man were understated. He had a dozen concubines within ten feet of him, some rubbing against him, others staring vacantly as the drugs took them for a ride. One was even licking his feet.

The conversation started short and sweet. He explained why they were there, well, he restated the information given, there was still no knowing if he had foreknowledge of an attack towards him. After that was out of the way, Esdeath said that she would be commandeering rooms for them to sleep in, Borick didn't mind at all.

Seryu had Koro hold her leg when he spoke of them being fully capable of making use of his 'loyal followers _special_ services'. She wanted to cave his head in with a kick right there. Would that be justice? Vigilantism? Nothing made sense to her anymore.

She blinked twice when people dropped from the ceiling, they were tasked with protecting the same person, only the Jaegers were called in long after these 'Rakshasa Demons' showed up.

From how Esdeath spoke of them, they were a special black ops force.

"You know," for the first time in a long time, Seryu spoke. "If you're gonna fight Night Raid, you're gonna die."

When she blinked, one of them was gone.

"We've defeated Teigu users before with just our bare hands." The hand of the tall white haired one was directly behind her, his hand pressed against her neck. "So don't worry about us."

"You sure about that?" The Imperial Assassin looked to the brown haired man who didn't look at him, but had his foot in the air next to Ibara.

Looking down, row after row of razor sharp teeth spun, the dog creature was seemingly about to jump and tear him to pieces, but because the leg of someone Seryu didn't want to kill was in front of it, it stopped short.

"I didn't mean because of your power, I meant because of your opponent's power. Two to zero, don't let them catch you off guard for a part of a second, otherwise you'll be dead at their feet to. Not to mention reports have come in saying they might have gained members as well." Seryu's dull eyes even made the Demons in front of her feel sadder than before.

Borick didn't like this boner killer and told the Jaegers to enjoy themselves as they stayed here.

This felt like it was going to be a _long_ mission.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Not my best chapter, no real action, just moving along the story, I altered the time it took for them to arrive at the city since there's a 3 month gap from when Borick dies and they go back to the Capital and find Wild Hunt, as such, I made 1 month to get here, one month to stay here, and one month to get back.**

 **Since Esdeath would kill Syura the second she sees him, he's gotta do something to save his skin. Otherwise Esdeath will take it from him and probably make him eat it.**

 **This arc shouldn't take to long, I focused on Seryu here to show how mundane and macabre her views have become, she still hates things she sees as bad, but her actions towards them have changed since she doesn't truly know what justice is.**

 **Next one will either focus on our main trio, or more side character stuff. I think the latter is best since the Rakshasa Demons took out Revolutionary spies and dealt with some Raiders. So putting them on patrol with Jaegers and different targets would be something nice.**

 **OH, before I forget, new poll on my account. I will not go in to why, what or who I want to change, just that I hope you'll vote yes and be okay with it. So please cast your vote and give your opinion.**

 **Have an Awesome Day/Night(I am writing this at 1 AM :D… zzzzz) N.I.A.**


	27. Planning and Miscalculations

**Mailbawx:** Thank you.

 **Animefan260:** Okay then, thanks.

 **ETWWoFT:** Answered by PM.

 **TJFW:** To be fair, Izou is powerful, if it was only a match of pure swordsmanship. I think only a handful of people could beat him; Against the Rakshasa, 1v1, he'd still probably win. And I agree, Enshin was nothing. Cosmina, okay, she got shot through the chest by a laser sniper, what do you expect. Certainly not a huge bug monster that can shoot energy blasts, but at least she did more than Enshin.  
WHAT?! HOW DO YOU KEEP DOUBLE REVIEWING?!

 **Decent reception for the last chapter, which is great since I wrote that in 2 days both around midnight… and I'm starting this one at 11:25 PM… I gotta write earlier.**

 **Thank you for voting on my poll. The results are in; I CAN alter one person's past so I can add more insanity to Tatsumi's life. Guess who it'll be and how they'll change if your confidant enough. Except for you FanFictionHunter, I've talked to you about this so that'd just give the answer away.**

 **Before I forget, if any of you watch RWBY, I made a cute oneshot, so please check it out. It's post volume 4, just original content AU fluff.**

 **Something I noticed while writing this chapter, the email notification for reviews doesn't pop up. I thought I had 2 reviews in the latest chapter, then I checked and it was 3, then I looked a few days later and it was 4. The fuck Fanfiction? Also;**

 **200+ REVIEWS, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH! For a treat, would you guys prefer a smut scene(somewhat awkward since it's their first time), or an adorable Mother's Day omake consisting of the children from the Valentine's Day one? Because I want to update on either the 13th(my birthday) or Mother's Day.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

The party was fine, most of the Jaegers had fun in some form. Seryu even managed a ghost of a smile when Kurome tease Koro with a steak.

Through all the commotion, Tatsumi and Esdeath were able to find some quiet on a balcony, just watching the starry sky. It was strange, the bond between the three had grown much stronger than before, so despite being at nearly opposite ends of the city, it still felt like Leone was right by them.

 **XxXx**

The next day, they were able to meet up with her. She made sure to make the most of their time together.

It was a good thing Esdeath had such a fearsome reputation, without it, the Rakshasa Demons would probably have searched this area of the city as well. Now they were able to drink with only the attention of the bar patrons. It helped that Esdeath wore something casual instead of her General uniform. A plain light blue shirt with brown pants.

A few drinks and a lunch later, the trio went on a walk about the town. Stopping at more than one ice-cream or liquor store before the day ended.

"It sucks that we have to sneak out to see you." Tatsumi's left hand had Leone's, his right was her bags.

"Well there is a way she could sneak in and be with us, but I don't like this particular method." Esdeath had her sweets in a bag in her left hand, and her lover's hand in her right.

"What would that be?" Leone just walked and swung her arms in pace.

"Borick has a 'special' entertainment, he asked us if we wanted to partake in any. I ignored his offer and spoke about those hiding from me in the rafters. But it means we could pick someone to join me and Tatsumi in sex."

"I thought you tried to stab a guy for calling me a whore."

"No, that was prostitute. We're not paying you to be with us."

"While it'd be nice to have Leone with us, you know why she can't." Tatsumi, despite blushing at his tallest girl's ease of talking about sex, knew there was an obstacle for Leone to be around them.

"Hm? What're you talking about?"

"The Rakshasa Demons are currently working alongside the Jaegers to protect Borick's life. They are granted such a fierce name for a reason. Their power is one that no one will be able to obtain without decades of intense training." Esdeath's eyes wandered to Tatsumi. "Well, _shouldn't_ be able to. Either way, while they train their bodies to shrug off normal death blows and evade a point blank gunshot, they are also taught on how to notice any suspicious movements without flaw. So if you were with us, they'd be able to tell from your mannerisms, tone, posture. Everything that you give off would show you trying to gain information, even if you aren't intentionally doing so."

"Damn… and those guys are on patrol right now?"

"Only for about a third of the city, the rest is being overseen by the Jaegers." Meaning the Revolutionaries in those districts would be safe.

"So how're we gonna deal with those guys?" They'd be a problem later on down the line. Against regular troops, they sound like they'd be unstoppable.

"I figured, despite not knowing what each is specifically adept at, it would be best if I told you what you can expect from each of them. As such, I delivered a sealed envelope to Najenda.

"When you regroup with Night Raid, I'm sure Najenda will have planned a way to lure them out, but I've placed my own suggestions on the back." Esdeath only knew of the strength of the Raiders from Leone's stories, but Najenda had firsthand experience, witnessing their growth and the limits of power they do or do not have. So her words would hold more value than Esdeath's in this case.

The trio continued to walk and talk as long as they could. Discussing anything and everything.

"Aww, looks like this is where we split up." Any further and they'd be dangerously close to the monster of a church that Borick secured himself in.

"If we learn anything new, we'll tell you when we meet up tomorrow." Tatsumi rubbed his thumb on her knuckles as he gave her her bag. He wanted to be with her so badly, to kiss and hold her the same as Esdeath, but this brief contact would have to hold him over.

The Ice Queen was in the same situation. But she knew that the quicker the Demons were taken care of, the quicker Leone could infiltrate as their consort. The plan was far from perfect, but she'd be able to stay with them longer than a fleeting moment.

Besides, if anyone asides them tried to make a move on her, let's say blue balls will become an actual medical condition, if they survive being a popsicle that is.

With a final kiss from both, the blonde was left with nothing to do but return to the hideout.

 **XxXx**

When she got back, Najenda was looking over a map of the city alongside Bulat and Akame.

"This street has a dead end and is closer to the edge of town, so if we can lead one or two there with one of us as bait, we can use a Jaeger to corner them."

"Lubbock could set up a net above the alley so they can't run that way."

"That's one down at worst, so we need 3 more places to be safe." Bulat had taken to spinning his new staff between his forefinger and thumb when he was in deep thought.

"The cemetery could work, but we need to pull out all troops from the area without attracting attention."

Akame scanned the map before bringing up the possibility of hiding in the catacombs.

"While that could work, then they'd be the ones trapped if they're found."

"Yes, but with Zagan, I can manipulate the grass and trees to help me battle, and with my Trump card, no one will be able to find him unless they know what to look for."

"I saw a couple of shady areas around the north east of town when I was out." Leone plopped her bags on the couch and got on with the planning. "We could use some crooks to divert their attention so we can get a blow in. Or Akame can prick 'em with Murasame."

"That's a nice idea, but how will we deal with them once they find nothing of value on the corpse?" It was nice to get someone who knew at least a part of the land. While they had maps, they didn't know the lay of the land. Who stays there, when they leave, how populated it is, are the buildings falling apart or brand new. Small things that could help immensely when planning an ambush.

"The Jaegers hold the same power of law enforcement over any area within the Empire. We can scare the small fry off when they say their rank and create a mock chase to the outskirts of the city."

"Then Akame would be the best. She's the fastest of us, and if any crook talks about her, no new information will be found out."

"That's three," Najenda lit her cigarette. "We just need number 4."

 **XxXx**

"Ugh, where am I?" The woman scratched her head. The road signs were faded, but this should have lead back to the base. It was a right from the fountain and left from the Inn… or was it left from the fountain and right from the Inn?

'I shouldn't have left Mine. I have no clue where to go.' With no science behind it, Sheele picked where to go.

"Enny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. Pick a-"

 ***AGH***

"screaming woman by the… I should help."

Sheele ran through the streets, difficult to do in a dress, but fifteen seconds later she found an unconscious woman with a large gash on her head. The one who did this to her had just turned to face the incoming presence before he 'freed her soul'.

Roughly three heads taller than Sheele, the perpetrator was a burly man with a spiky beard and eyebrows. Along with hair that cropped up from the side of his head with a ponytail at the back. While his hair seemed simple, his eyes had black rings and his irises were a vivid yellow. He wore what seemed to be a typical martial artist's attire, but his top was torn in half vertically.

His only armor was a pauldron on his clothed shoulder, and possibly the bands around his forearms, but that wouldn't change anything against Extase.

"Hm? I know your face. It was one of the ones we were assigned to kill on sight. Night Raid's Sheele." He turned his whole body to face her. She would be a serious opponent, reports stated she used a Teigu that cut through anything. Meaning catching the blade or avoiding it entirely would be best, but forming their bodies to impossible shapes was more Ibara's thing than his, so the former was his strongest chance at winning.

As she was pulling her weapon out, he appeared in front of her and sent a blow that should gore through her chest.

A metallic ringing was heard before a figure crashed into a house.

To let go of the pain, Sten took deep breaths and continuously clenched and unclenched his fist.

The second he was going to touch her, she had turned her back and let her Teigu take the blow. The near indestructible weapon had caused Stens skin to peel from his knuckles. While he could stop the blood flow by flexing his muscles, that didn't mean it didn't fucking hurt.

Rubble shook as Sheele came up from the stone. She could feel blood running down her face, though her thoughts were more on the pain her back was in. While Extase stopped her from being pierced with a fist, it only spread the damage, not erase it.

Blinking a few times, the four spinning blury men cleared and became one. Gripping her now free scissor blade, Sheele took her battle stance and moved.

She ran ahead, the blade behind her. Sten ran to meet her halfway.

With her hand on the inner handle, Sheele stopped in her tracks and let the blade continue moving. Slicing through the cobblestone street, pushing the upper handle back to create a huge upward slash. If Sheele wasn't fast enough, she'd end up cutting off her own hand when the full rotation happened.

As the weapon cleaved through the floor and into the air, Sten shifted his footing. Though he wouldn't be able to punch her, a tackle would have to do.

The blade came out into the air, but not where he was expecting.

When the blade was below ground, Sheele only tilted her wrist to offset the trajectory and send it slashing to where her guard looked the weakest.

Still, being a Rakshasa Demon meant being able to manipulate your body in ways people couldn't imagine.

Muscles bulged to gross proportions as Sten prepared to catch the blade. Then the brightest light he had ever seen flashed.

"AAAGGHH!"

His seared eyes were nothing to what he felt right then. He had been able to guestimate where the Teigu would hit him, but while he was able to grab the blade with expert precision, the second one closed in from behind and chopped off all of his fingers except his thumbs.

Being able to stop the blades with only his palms was cut short as the scissors fully closed and removed most of his right hand.

Still, with his iron will, he shoved the blade down and pushed himself above it. He spun in the air, twisting his body to perform a fatal drop kick to the pink blur.

...Pink?

"Bang." A flurry of yellow plasma shot from a big bulky gun, incinerating the man to ash.

"I try to find you after you wander off and I find this? Can you imagine how scared I was when I saw Extase's Trump Card activate?!" The angry midget was screaming at her friend. Even without the 'Pinch', a point-blank shot from Pumpkin would have killed him. She only needed to point up to not destroy any buildings or have someone get caught in the crossfire. "You know what, nevermind that now, we need to get going. Between your nightlight and my shots, the enemy is bound to know where we are."

"But the girl." Sheele pointed past the pink enthusiast.

"Huh?" Mine looked behind her and saw the victim. "We can't bring her she'll slow us down. She knew what she was getting into when she signed up for the revolution." Her face held anger as she spoke, she didn't want to leave the girl, but they'd have a smaller chance of escaping with dead weight.

"But-" Sheele was pulled by an invisible force to the right, into an open window. When she got her bearings she noticed she was behind a couch with Mine and the spy. "What-"

"SHH! Don't make a sound!" Lubbock whisper shouted, quickly manipulating Cross Tails to close, lock, and booby trap the windows while he was in the indent in the door mantel.

The sound of footsteps outside were obvious, but Lubbock was deaf to it since his heart was pounding in his ears.

"A fight happened here." The voice sounded masculine.

"Yeah, just look, there's blood there, there, and there. That wall is broken. Oh, and the floor has a huge gash in it." It sounded like a peppy girl.

"Mez, quiet." It felt like they disappeared.

Lubbock wrapped string around his neck himself to keep from swallowing the spit in his mouth.

"Have either of you found something?" OH THANK GOD FOR ESDEATH!... That was a weird sentence.

"We think they're around here, but we don't know where."

"I see, then go-"

 ***CRASH***

A vase broke against the floor, the now disoriented spy had tried to find something to pull herself up with, only to grab a table cloth and pull a piece of pottery to the floor.

The world seemed to freeze for a second, but they were save by a cat yowling at the same time.

A dagger was still thrown through each window, but the cat that somehow materialized from nothing just jumped up to the now open windows, hissed at the three before leaping out and scurrying into an alleyway.

"It was only a cat. Dammit, they've gotten a lot more headway now. Mez, you head North. Ibara, East."

A few seconds passed.

"You are all quite lucky for the power of Gaea Foundation. If your friend didn't put herself in the most dangerous situation she could. I would have had to kill them myself and break cover… Tell her she did a good job." Esdeath jumped onto the ceiling and went south.

Lubbock was finally able to release his strings and breathe.

All the Night Raiders involved in the ordeal took a breathe of relief and shared a collective thought.

'Next time, Sheele's not going to leave anyone's sight when we're shopping.'

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Not the coolest place to leave off, but I liked it. Sure the fight scene was short, but to me, it made sense.**

 **Sheele can fight people best at a mid range and is great against slower fighters (Koro). But Sten continually tried to get a direct hit in. With his tenacity and the Rakshasa's being able to survive death blows, her attacks, while doing damage, weren't dealing any game changing hits. Without Mine's interference, Sheele would have been killed. Either way, Sten couldn't use his hands ever again if he won.**

 **The reason for Lubba and Chelsea being grouped together will be said next chapter, but it's basically the same as canon (understanding the area they are in).**

 **Something I noticed about my poll. 13 voters and there are 200+ people who read this… So you readers just don't want to give your opinion on the matter? I think that's a bit bad since you're letting 13 people vote for the future of this story and not take an active role in it.**

 **Anyways, remember to vote on this on my account;**

 **LEMON/SMUT/SEX  
** **OR  
** **ADORABLE MOTHER'S DAY OMAKE**

 **The first will be updated normally and either come a little later on in the story or it's an alternate timeline where they did it earlier, and the second will be updated on the 13th(MY BIRTHDAY :D) or the 15th(Mother's Day)**

 **Stay Awesome. -N.I.A.**


	28. Non-Canonical PWP

**Well, you pervs ALL voted for smut. But thanks to a friend of mine named Kowaba, I was able to come up with a good idea for where the smut to take place.**

 **I didn't describe length or if there was any pubic hair, just imagine it with your preference.**

 **This takes place when Leone drinks Tatsumi's blood. She still marks Tatsumi with her scent, just in a different way.**

 **Oh yeah, also, hymen only gets hurt during rough sex, not broken during your first time. It isn't a wall in the vagina, it's just an arch. So all the 'blood came out, she screamed in pain, I'm okay now' stuff isn't the least bit accurate. If blood came out, then either something HORRIBLY wrong happened and you should call a doctor, or you had rough sex.**

 **I swear to god, if this story's popularity ups just because of porn...**

 **XxXxXxXx**

The belt clicked as Tatsumi moved away from the half conscious blonde.

She had licked a drop of his blood and her mind seemed to leave. Tyrant said this could wake her up quicker, but he had his reservations.

Her body seemed to have transformed with her Teigu, but she wasn't all there. Her eyes were slits and she released a low growl.

When he gulped in fear, she pounced.

As he crashed into the ground with an ***oomph*** , his shirt had already been torn in half.

"L-LEONE, WHAT THE HELL?!" She didn't seem to understand him as she grabbed his pants and tore them off.

He fell completely silent and unmoving as the clawed hand grabbed his flaccid penis. One wrong move and she could tear it off. But his fears were for nothing.

"O-oh!" Much to his shock, the Neko Girl was holding it in a firm grip and gently moving her hand up and down. "W-wh-ai-y are you doing thi-IS?" When his dick had grown erect, she stopped using his hand and started using her mouth.

"Leone~" He could only moan her name. Her hands had felt like soft velvet, but her mouth was a warm cavern that applied a godly pressure on him, add the fact that her tongue's texture massaged everything it touched. It's no wonder how he didn't even notice his hands had gone to the back of her head until he started thrusting upwards as if his life depended on it.

Leone never seemed to gag or fight the push and pull of her skull. Her eyes grew even hazier as she never had her experienced such carnal lust.

Like her namesake, Leone attacked his member with pure lust and raw aggression. Her actions seemed to draw his attention away from their surroundings.

Locking eyes with the girl who was taking his first sexual experience, Tatsumi felt his pleasure finally spike. His droning moan lasted nearly half a minute as he buried Leone's face in his crotch. Her nose was nestled into his brown hair and her chin slapped against his resting sack.

He felt like he was going to cum again when Leone started swallowing his semen while his cock was still lodged in her throat.

Tatsumi was seeing stars when he finally let go of the Blonde's head and gasped on the floor.

With Lionel's ability to regenerate mixed with the smallest amount of Tyrant, Leone's lungs had only needed one large breath of air before she could see clearly again. It helped with hangovers, what could it do for sex?

A weight shifted on Tatsumi's lap. Forcing his tired eyes open, he saw the tall woman squatting above his still hard member. She moved her short shorts to the side and rubbed it against the soft, velvety lips of her pink vagina. A passerby, if not miffed by their bold move of sex right out in the open, would probably laugh due to the considerable difference in size. Leone looked like an imposing big sister ready to pummel her little brother.

Fingers broke through the wooden floor of the hideout. Leone moved her focus from peering at his cock from above to look at her lover's face. This time, Tatsumi growled as his eyes changed from their emerald green to red crosses.

As his sturdy soldier was now soaking wet with the blonde's juices, Leone went to impale herself on him while staring deep into his bleeding red eyes.

If he didn't do this then he'd always hate himself, so with the small amount of sanity he had left, Tatsumi grabbed her shoulders and brought her face-to-face with him. He had to know why she was doing this. He knew exactly how he felt towards her and needed to know if she felt the same.

"L-leone." His breathing was erratic as his blood pounded. "Do you want this because you like me, or because of my blood." He nearly cried in embarrassment as she turned all of her attention back on him.

Her swishing tail and drooling smile had stopped. Something in her soul understood him.

"T-... Tatsumi." The first words she had be able to say was his name. "You, I love you. No one else can take this place in my heart." Her smile held her heart as she came closer and kissed him.

He kissed her back with even more force. He didn't care what caused this situation or what would happen in it. His mind couldn't hold back his lust any longer, but he was at peace that she wanted this too.

She sat back up and got herself back to where she was.

Tatsumi couldn't keep his head straight as she began to bounce. The way she was doing it was incredible, nice and slow. Her moans got louder as she took more of him in her. When she bottomed out with her large, round ass resting against his thighs, she grabbed onto his face and savagely made out with him.

Tatsumi had no idea how he didn't release his load right then and there, but he was glad that he could give her some of the pleasure that she gave him.

Her humping was erratic and quick soon after. She had sat back up feel more of him, but seeing her large, heavy breasts bounce and jiggle within her constricting top, Tatsumi couldn't help himself.

Grabbing her top, he ripped it off and felt his jaw drop when her pale white melons danced out in front of his eyes. Going with the gut feeling he had, Tatsumi didn't know if she would like it or not but he latched his mouth onto one of her ripe, hard nipples. It seemed to be a good move as her thrusts got harder and her moans louder, as well as the sound of her squelching pussy grew more apparent as they rutted.

Before he reached his limit, Tatsumi wanted to be sure that he had given her just a good a time as he was. He took a page from her book and changed his tongue to be more coarse and sucked on one tit while massaging the other.

Her howls of ecstasy were adorable, with the extra stimulation, she was able to get an orgasm right when he did.

As Tatsumi thrusts upwards, he imagined the feeling of something milking his cock as described in Lubbock's written hentai. But this definitely beat written porn any day of the week. He may not have lasted long enough to fully enjoy his first time in a pussy, especially the top class kind of pussy that he was sure that Leone's was.

But while he was enjoying the warm vice of Leone's pussy as it drank his seed straight from his balls, he almost screamed in disappointment when he felt his limp cock fall out of her tight cunt as she lifted herself.

However, when he opened his eyes he felt another type of satisfaction. Where Leone was perched, he had full view of the blonde as she fingered her cream stuffed pussy. With the same expertise she used to stroke his shaft, she used to massage her cunt as droplets of his own seed dripped down onto his stomach.

Before even getting halfway finished, she was the one put on her back. He wouldn't allow her to tease him like that and just get away with it.

"You're to good for me." Tatsumi put her legs on his shoulders and his face in her crotch. "Let me make it up to you." He had a ferocious grin as his tongue snaked out of his mouth and trailed up from her navel to her upper stomach. It had changed, the end was forked, but the thing that Leone was gushing about was extremely long. She locked her legs around his head and had a look in her eyes that dared him to keep going.

Her head bashed against the floor as she crooned in euphoria. He was hitting her deepest parts. Without ever having been a part of a sexual act before in her life, Leone could still tell no other being in the world could top the way he worshipped her body.

She was continuously brought to the brink before he stopped short and teased her breasts. When the hybrid finally let her climax nearly twenty minutes later, she was a writhing mess on the floor.

Her juices were the greatest thing he had ever tried. He couldn't hold himself back as he moved. With her legs still above his shoulders, Tatsumi lined himself up and shot right into his newest girl.

He couldn't stop his thrusts even if he wanted to, Leone seemed to love it too as she held his hands securely on her tits.

A particularly devious idea came to mind.

Leone could swear her eyes turned to hearts when she felt his dick grow inside her. The newest Night Raider didn't reach his limit, the boy had used powers of adaptation and evolution to increase the length and width of his penis to fill up every nook and cranny inside her.

That pleasure started to dissipate however, as the cock was growing to big for her liking.

Seeing her face distort from joy to discomfort, Tatsumi went back a bit on his evolution and used the size she gained her greatest pleasure from.

Her tongue was outside her mouth, her stream of moans left it hanging out.

This beautiful sight was to much for Tatsumi as he came deep into her while bending down for a kiss. Showing off how flexible Leone's legs were.

For a few minutes after he pulled out, the two just basked in the feel of the other. Not talking or moving, just sharing their feelings without speaking.

The moment went back to sex as Leone could still feel that burning ache from within her very soul.

If Tatsumi didn't have an immense stamina boost from his Teigu fusion, his cock probably couldn't have gotten erect again despite being caressed by two gorgeous breasts. But since he was part Danger Beast, his durability in battle had increased, this was just a different kind of battle.

Leone held total control as she moved her tits up and down, alternating her speed, force, and direction when she thought things were getting stale.

Tatsumi wasn't someone to just lie down and take it though. Leone had stopped her movements when she was spun in the air. Her crotch landing on Tatsumi's face and her's still above his dick.

Making sure to pay her back for everything, Tatsumi started to eat her out.

'Lubbock's hentai weren't that off.' If they were that accurate, then this nub would make her-

"AAH!" She came as Tatsumi toyed with her clit.

"You-you're mine." Leone, despite feeling like she was going to collapse, couldn't fight the instinctual urge to make him submit to her. Placing his cock between her breasts once more. She got to work, even sucking on the tip that escaped her valley of flesh.

Tatsumi continued to play with her honey pot as she sucked him off. Giving himself more pleasure as her moans worked their way through his dick.

'She's gonna be the one to submit.' Despite her inability to properly speak, Tatsumi clearly understood her intentions. 'How would this feel?"

The transformed human yowled as her tail was grabbed and used to tease her pussy. Her mouth closed on the hybrid's penis even tighter than before.

If teasing this hole did that, what would the other one do?

After her tail was absolutely soaked, Tatsumi spread her asscheeks and slowly circled closer inwards before pushing it in.

If Tatsumi didn't have the foresight to make his phallus strong enough to be kept from being cut off, Leone gritting her teeth would have hurt him instead of giving immense stimulation.

"N-n-not that." Tatsumi found it cute that her mind was able to come back when he made her feel so crazy.

"Sorry, no can do." He pulled her waist back down to his face, licking up all her juices as he pushed the tail back in when it tried its hardest to get out.

She couldn't tell when how many times she came after a few hours of this, but she had born fruits of labor as well. Her hair was covered in white, as were her breasts. She had swallowed so much of his cum that she wasn't sure if she could ever eat anything else in her life.

When Leone started acting off, Tatsumi stopped and checked what was wrong.

She had rolled off of him and started rubbing her arms red.

"Leone!" He had no clue what could be happening to her, he'd never read something like this in one of Lubba's adult books.

"It's fine, I FE-eel fantas-TIC!" Her voice quivered as her hands moved from her arms to her erogenous zones.

As the Lioness fingered herself in front of her mate, she could feel something even more ancient well up from within, as she came. It erupted from her soul.

Her hair grew wilder, her ears bigger, the fur on her hands spread to throughout her torso and legs.

"You transformed again?!" He had no idea that Lionel could do such a thing. Not even Tyrant's knowledge on Teigu showed a Lionel user being capable of doing so.

"..."

"Leone?" Her face grew a wicked grin.

"Tatsumi, I think it's time I show you who's in charge." Leone was all there now, her mind had tuned in completely with the primal thoughts of her teigu, and she was loving it.

Tatsumi landed on his back as Leone tried to wrestle herself into a dominate position.

"AH~!" Her wish didn't come true however.

"You think I didn't notice how sensitive your ass was?" Leone had an arm behind her. If he pulled any higher he would dislocate her shoulder. But her moan didn't come from the pain.

The head of his cock was easing its way into her ass.

"Lionel was able to heal amputations and broken spines easy before this stage, so I wonder how you'll deal with this." He hilted himself within her, and if that wasn't enough, he started to make his member grow even bigger too.

With her new healing factor, any past discomfort was long gone as her boyfriend shoved himself in and out of her as fast as he could with all the strength he could muster. If Lionel didn't give her this second form for succumbing to her most primal instincts, Tatsumi would have probably gotten rid of her ability to walk. Any normal human's hip bones would crack under the glorious power that were behind his strokes.

 **XxXx**

Esdeath had no idea how this happened. Her tongue explored this random blonde's mouth as Tatsumi thrusted between their tribbing pussies. Shoving the frozen toy deeper in her ass.

She had just arrived at the bookstore where Tatsumi said he'd go to drop off the message of her conditions for betrayal. When she opened the door to the underground room. Something hit her face.

It was a liquid. White and sticky, but diluted by something else. Leone was moaning her head off as she was held in a full nelson with Tatsumi balls deep in the blonde's tight ass with three of his fingers lodged deep into her gushing wet pussy... She had squirted on Esdeath's face. The General was going to scream at the kissing pair, but the intoxicating aroma of sex clouded her mind. It was over for her when she licked the substance sliding down her face

She lost control of her body immediately after that. A mix of both their releases had messed with her body chemistry.

Her clothes felt like they were suffocating her. Her body was the hottest is was since she drank her Demon's Extract. Her knees gave out as she experienced her first sexual urges in her twenty-four years of life.

She couldn't stop herself, not that she would have, from crawling over to the pair and licking where the two joined.

They freaked out at first when they noticed she was there, but seeing her weakened state, they attacked. Leone handled what was below the skirt, testing what hole she prefered. Tatsumi was kissing her while tearing open her shirt and massaging her breasts. Telling her between kisses about Leone's joining them by blood and the impossible amount of lust they felt since last night.

Everything they did to her made her feel like she never had before

When Leone was leaving an indent in the wall. A book fell from the banister, one of Lubbock's super secret collection.

They had tried every position in it through their night of passion, but now it was time to try it on Esdeath.

"You-you can use that hole!?" The General had started riding her husband-to-be's cock when the stray had come up behind the standing duo and shoved her tongue up the Sadist's ass.

Stimulation from one person was insane, but from two? Her mind was on cloud nine.

"HARDER, MORE!" She couldn't get enough. Ice was encasing the room as she was growing closer and closer to her first climax.

Her head was turned away from Tatsumi's new red crosses to a mischievous yellow pair.

As Leone kissed her, she used a finger to circle her clit.

Esdeath only saw white for the next minute.

 **XxXx**

Through the time she spent with the pair, Esdeath awoke her inner sexual deviant.

Leone had been riding cowgirl when she felt something freezing touch her butt.

A double sided ice dildo was shoved in and out of her rear with no remorse. She had even grabbed her breasts and cooled them so much that her nipples couldn't become harder.

Esdeath found that she loved Leone, she could be as rough as she wanted, the woman didn't even seem to mind it.

Tatsumi had blacked out for a bit when Esdeath locked his head in her crotch for five minutes. While he was greedily gulping oxygen until he woke up. Leone and Esdeath gave each other company. The Blonde was given the lead role her as she angled her legs between Esdeath's and scissored the Empire's Strongest.

Leone's night of experience would have normally let her beat the General, but she wasn't going to let that happen.

Ice had pierced her nipples and frozen chains attached the two. Esdeath made sure to pull on it to let her masochistic partner feel even better.

The lion was lucky for her not needing to breathe. When Tatsumi woke and saw the two, he had shoved his enlarged dick down her throat, using the chain Esdeath provided to full advantage.

Noticing their male lover wake up, Esdeath tried a different stratagem. As such, Leone found herself spitroasted on her back. Swallowing all the cum from her male companion and taking in the cold thrusts from her female one.

 **XxXx**

The sun had finally started to set again when the trio's lust subsided.

"So you're saying this affected us so greatly since we're all part Teigu?" That was why their lust lasted for nearly twenty-four hours.

"Precisely." Esdeath gave her explanation between her bobs on his cock.

"And you're still going so hard at this since you were the last one infected?" Leone shook as fingers plunged in and out of her.

"Mmhm" Esdeath found it hard to speak with a dick down her throat. Especially since their combined cum and her own saliva were choking her lubed throat.

"So we have to deal with your lust until next morning?"

She used her tongue to spell out 'yes' on Tatsumi's lower head.

The two Night Raid members look at each other before growing devious grins.

This would be fun.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **18 of you guys, and 13 picked smut, well here you go. Another thanks to Kowaba since I sent the original draft to him and he spruced up the weaker parts**

 **My first lemon and it's 3 thousand words. Go big or go home I guess.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed. Remember that this in not canon to the story. In the actual plot, the three have yet to have had sex. And I haven't even *redacted*. Oh right, I can't tell you guys about that, well, best of luck guessing.**

 **Have an Awesome time -N.I.A.**


	29. Omake: Children's Play

**Since you guys wanted porn the most, you got it first (15 to 3) But there were those of you like me who wanted to see the adorable trio from before cause mass havoc and mayhem LIKE THE WORLD HAS NEVER… wait no, that's when they start to go through puberty. Right, here the kiddies are trying to come up with a mother's day gift for Esdeath and Leone**

 **Wish 'em luck.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

The horned rabbit stood and looked at it surroundings.

Its head snapped left at the sound of a breaking twig.

When the noise came from behind. The little hare leapt as fast as it could away from the intruders.

And right into their trap.

The land froze over, the mammal pulled up blades of grass as they got stuck to his paws.

A yellow blur fell from the tree in front. The Danger Beast ran left, over a puddle.

This time, the animal couldn't pull itself out of the icey trap. Three figures loomed above it…

 **XxXx**

"What's this one gonna be named?" Lacy skipped around in circles.

"Skuttle Butt?" Her younger fraternal twin, Leo, was jumping around from tree to tree, chasing after a flying squirrel.

"No." Alice had the ice cage with the Jackalope securely on her lap. "... I like Nivens."

Lacy stopped mid-skip and tumbled into the floor. "Why 'Nivens'?" She shook the grass out of her hair.

"He looks like one."

Leo dropped from the trees and crouched in front of the cage.

The horned animal was horrified. Scratches marred the cage from his attempts at burrowing, bashing its antlers, and nibbling on the bars. Any significant damage was repaired in seconds by his blue haired Overlord. He was hyperventilating and looking at everything as a threat.

"Hm, I can see it." The energetic child with blonde hair that blocked his eyes jumped to a standing position. "Now we all got a pet." The winged squirrel jumped from the trees and landed in his hair.

"Hey, where is Courage?"

Lacy looked around. "I think he's still at the house."

"Okay, well, let's go back too." Leo walked in a random direction.

"That's the stream, not home."

On the dot, he pivoted to the right.

"There you go."

 **XxXx**

"Courage, here boy!" A woof came from their backyard. A blur sped towards them, tackling Lacy down and licking her face.

The big grey wolf was pushed away as his master sat up. "Good boy! We got another friend for you to play with, look." She pulled her sister closer to show off his new playmate.

The eyes of the rabbit spoke of the anger and murder it would commit once freed.

The big burly predator whined and backed away from the trapped herbivore.

"C'mon, it's in a cage, it's not like it can hurt you." Leo stuck his finger in between the bars.

Teeth chomped on the appendage.

"Ow, maybe we should get a nicer one." It sorta stung a little as the Danger Beast's teeth were trying to dig into a hand turned claw. The muscles in just one finger stopped the bunny from going any deeper than the skin.

"Nu-uh, Courage tried to eat Lacy's face when they first met, now look." She used her head to motion to the duo playing fetch. The one running after the stick changing each throw.

"I guess… hey Momo, you wanna talk to him." The winged Squirrel popped out of the boy's hair and scurried down his arm to the top of the cage.

A series of squeaks and chirps later, the passive Danger Beast turned to its buddy and shook its head 'No'.

"Huh, I think Momo's trying to say this'll be easy."

Its head shook harder.

"Wanna let him out?"

Alice brought the cage to her eyes. The hare snarled and bared its teeth.

"...I don't see why not."

Momo pushed Leo's head left and right.

"WAIT."

Someone FINALLY realized what he was trying to tell them about the rab-

"You gotta put up a fence so he doesn't run away."

He gave up. They'd be fine, one could freeze things and the other two could turn into animals. The flying mammal just jumped off the human and flew to the perch the brown haired adult made him.

With a clap, Alice formed a ten foot wall in the shape of a square that spread twenty feet around her. Just a few inches away from hitting her home.

The white monster shot through the hole made in its cage and found no weakness in the boundary.

Even digging down, the rabbit met ice.

"Oh yeah, rabbits live in holes, they have to be good diggers. Nice idea making this a big box." Lacy held on to Courage's collar to keep him from running away.

"You don't need to say that. I just did what Mom taught us." Esdeath had made sure her children knew to properly hunt and survive in case of a disaster.

"I like Mama's way more." Leo crouched on all fours and pounced. As he hit the wall face first, one of the horns splintering from the jackalope was cut cleanly off. "Shee" His voice came out distorted from being buried in a wall.

"Don't hurt Nivens! We've been looking for someone to complete the act for four forevers." Lacy, after yanking Leo out of the ice, was rubbing her fists into the sides of his head.

"It's only been a week…"

"Alice," The eldest child jumped. "let's see what he can do."

The blue haired princess scratched her head in thought. The obstacle course Courage went through should be good, it'd just need to be put to scale.

Ramps, walls, pillars and tightropes were created in the time it took her to breathe.

"Okay Nivens, try it out and I'll change it when it's to hard or easy."

The bunny just sat there.

"C'mon, go."

It nibbled on the grass.

"You gotta give him some incentive." A voice called out from over the wall.

Alice put her hands on the wall and pushed, creating a window. When she looked outside, her Dad was standing there with groceries.

"Incentive?"

"Something you get for a reward for finishing the task."

"Oh, well what can I give him?"

Tatsumi looked through his bag. "Apples, potatoes, celery… Ah, here you go." He pulled out a carrot from the bag. "If it's a rabbit, that should work. Just put it at the end of your track and if he thinks the work is worth it, he'll try his hardest to get there."

"Okay, thanks dad." When she left her window, the ice closed and the wall was completely flat.

He took one step before she popped back out.

"I forgot to ask, but where's Mom and Mama?" Leo and Lacy were next to her in the wide opening.

"You three said you didn't want either of them to see what you were making. So Esdeath is in town looking at any bounties on monsters nearby, and Leone said that she wanted to catch dinner."

"So they'll be back around sunset?" It was a little creepy that all three asked in synchronicity.

"Should be."

The trio looked at each other and nodded.

"You want some snacks before you continue your misadventure?"

 ***Guuuuuuu~***

"I'll take that as a yes."

 **XxXx**

A few diced apples, pears, and strawberries later, the three children were back at trying out their show.

"Lacy, you're supposed to be riding Courage, not carrying him."

"Alice, Nivens is trying to eat my ankle."

"Leo, Momo can't lift anything bigger than an acorn, he can't fly you around."

After hours of trial and error they finally found themselves ready to perform.

Scratches and grass stains littered their bodies, but their smiles were radiant.

"Mom and Mama should be home soon."

"Cool, we can show them our present!" Leo raised his arms in cheer.

"Bleck, you stink." Lacy was covering her nose and turned away.

"No, you smell worse."

Before a fight broke out, Alice stepped in. "Why don't we all jump in the river and clean up? We're all dirty from practice."

The twins looked at each other before nodding and turning back to her and said 'fine' exasperatedly.

When the three left their line of sight, the two women were able to exit the woods.

"Aw, look at those little rascals. Hard to think that they'll eventually grow up."

"Just be happy that we have them for now."

"Yeah… but did we seriously have to wait for them to leave before we could go back in the house?" Leone had been dragging a few birds the size of her head back to the house, when she saw Esdeath sitting on the ground, waiting.

" _So what's going on?"_

" _The kids are still practicing."_

 _Leone looked past the trees and saw a wall of ice._

" _They're not looking, we can just hurry up into the house and stay there."_

" _True, but they've been trying their hardest and I don't want any spoilers about what they're trying to do."_

 _Leone stared at her before exasperatedly saying fine. "But it's your fault if dinner can't get made." Skinning, gutting, deboning. All those things took time, and without the proper tools from the kitchen, Leone would just turn them to mush._

 _Luckily Esdeath wasn't going to let the her kids go hungry. Ice clones were made and avian Danger Beasts were sliced open with frozen tools._

 _She neatly and methodically removed everything inedible and placed them in separate containers. The feathers could be used for pillows or sold, the bones could make treats for Courage, and the intestines could be used as bait to trap a carnivore or omnivore._

An hour later, the multiple ice copies properly cut the meat and everything was in a specific ice box. Then, minutes later, the trio of misfits left to clean up before their mothers came back.

 **XxXx**

After a jump into the chilly water and a splash fight, all of the kiddies came back home, hungry.

"Daddy, we're hungry." They all spoke at the same time as they trudged into the house with Alice in front, Lacy behind her, and Leo in the back. Tallest to shortest.

"Well hold on for about half an hour. The meat's being cooked." Tatsumi poked his head out of the kitchen to see their reactions to the person who spoke.

All three gasped and ran. They turned to look into the living room to see Esdeath and Leone on the couch. The ex-general was reading a book in the light of the fireplace while Leone was doing playing card tricks. Before she got into a relationship, getting someone to let their guard down by showing some cleavage was fine, but it didn't feel right after. So Leone started being a conman with rigged games that only she knew the answer to. Her greatest performance, she even tricked Esdeath, granted that only happened once, but that didn't stop her from flaunting it over the busty bleuette whenever she could.

"Come here, come on, come on." The kids grabbed their moms' arms and tried to drag them outside to the stage they made in the ice square.

The women just lifted their arms and their children were left flailing in the air.

"You can show us your surprise, but finish drying up first." Alice's hair had left a trail of water in the house, a small puddle was underneath the raised child.

"You two aren't much better either." Lacy and Leo had just shifted to their transformed state and shook the water off like a dog. That didn't mean they did a good job at it. "None of you are going to catch a cold on our watch.

Esdeath raised her free hand to motion for Alice to stay quiet for a second and listen.

"While you three finish up and change clothes, the three of us will set up the table outside so we can have dinner and see what you were working on. Is that okay with you?" It was still strange to ask when less than ten years ago she would have done anything regardless of permission or not.

Alice had a pensive look on her face before nodding, letting go of her mother's hand, and sprinting to her room.

The twins looked annoyed, but followed suite.

 **XxXx**

Their hair was frizzled and all over the place, but it was dry.

Keeping their end of the deal, by the time the kids made it back downstairs, the table was set outside. Right next to the ice.

"YES!" Alice shouted, she was usually the calmest among them, but she had a reason to be excited. She had come up with this the second her dad talked about Mother's day. It was a small local festival in his village, but they wanted to show their mom's just how much they meant to them. As such, this play was born.

The frozen wall fell down to show a stage, comprised of ice, but wood was in or sticking out of the ice trees.

Leo cleared his throat.

"This story started a long time ago. When someone left his home to help them live a better life. That person's name; was Tatsumi."

Courage was shoved up to the center of the stage.

Leone snickered at Tatsumi's actor. Esdeath kept quiet to not interupt, but she didn't fight her smile. Tatsumi was just wondering on how they made that choice. He'd later find out that Leone called him a horn-dog when she had some of her 'smelly-juice'.

"He needed to get money to help his family, so he came to the place where he could get the most, the fastest. The Capital."

The trees left the stage and buildings took shape, rocks and pebbles poking out of the ice.

"When he got there, he couldn't find a job and was robbed by Mama." An ice toy soldier shook it's head no, before Lacy trotted on stage. She scratched his head before taking his collar and walking off.

"Later, he met Mama and she got him a job to say sorry." Lacy put a fancier collar on Courage and pulled him along to the other side of the stage until she jumped off.

"After meeting Mom on a cruise. It was love at first sight." The city turned into a boat where Alice was hugging Courage and petting him.

"When they got back to the city, Mom was jealous." Alice was coddling Courage and Lacy was crushing Ice between paws. "She was completely…" Leo pulled out his narrator's script. "engrousted? By Dad and in an act of ava-rice, made him her boyfriend."

Leone glared as Esdeath drank her tea with a smug look.

"Mom tried to kill Mama before Dad stepped in." Alice and Lacy looked at each other threateningly before Courage stepped between them.

… before Courage stepped between them.

"Nivens." Leo whispered. "Make him move."

The jackalope looked annoyed before going behind the fearful dog and biting his tail.

He howled in pain as he ran forward.

'They're not far off.' Tatsumi could remember them trying to tear him in half like it was yesterday.

"After a long time, Mom, Mama, and Dad took a big trip to a city called; Cockroach-"

"Kyoroch."

"Kyoroch, where they met a strange man who said that they were all connected through a string. Mom thought it was silly to think in fate, Mama thought it was sweet, and Dad was happy that he was with people he loved."

Alice looked to the side, trying to act tsundere. Lacy was smiling. Courage was gnawing on a bone and wagging his tail.

"A few months later, they found out that Mom had a baby coming, and Mama wanted one too, but she got two instead of one."

Alice shoved one snowball under her shirt, Lacy put two.

"Before the kids came out of her belly, Dad and Mama got married."

Momo threw rose petals from above, as Alice kissed Courage's face.

"Nine months later, adorable misfits were born. They were named; Alice, Lacy, and Leo. Despite being different from normal kids, they were loved just the same."

Alice shifted the ice around her as the twins transformed.

"They were scared of their power, but then their parents showed them that they were all the same. So they thought of their power as part of them, something you shouldn't want to wish away. Even if they tore up clothes and furniture with their claws, or froze the bath water when they were a baby. It makes us closer to our parents, so we couldn't be happier being different."

The three ran off stage and took their family in a group hug.

"We love them and thank them for everything they've done for us." Their voices were muffled, but they held on tighter.

The adults smiled and hugged them back.

"All of us love you too, we wouldn't change our time with you for anything else in the world."

The family of six was content with staying like that for a while, in this peaceful world where they were the only things that mattered.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **It might have gotten a bit here and there, but I liked it. At least the end.**

 **HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOM'S!… though I doubt any of them will see this.**

 **Something else I didn't get a chance to talk about since I couldn't post this yesterday (13th had a huge headache for a while) HAPPY** (late) **BIRTHDAY TO ME! As a present, please review and tell me what you think. I always strive to become a better writer, any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed.**

 **I hope you enjoy this to off balance the smut from last chapter. Next chapter is 10 days from today, so the 24th of May. Until then;**

 **Have an Awesome time. -N.I.A.**

 **PS: You probably knew all the names, but if you didn't:  
Nivens= The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland(the meh movie version from a few years ago)  
Momo= Based off of Avatar: The Last Airbender's flying lemur  
Courage= Courage the Cowardly Dog**

 **While the names are all the same, they're different creatures. A jackalope, a literal flying squirrel, and a wolf, so i'm not THAT bad in coming up with pets... just mildly.**


	30. Demons Final Day

**Sorry for updating so late, I've been sick and couldn't really focus on writing since it feels like something is stabbing my back and digging itself deeper whenever I cough. Now, enough self loathing, onto the story.**

 **Chapter reviews, haven't done this in a while.**

 **Chapter 27** (only 3? I can't stop my tears T-T) **-**

 **Mailbawx:** Thank you

 **FFH:** No it didn't...

 **TJFW:** Explained in PM

 **Chapter 28-**

 **FFH:** -_-

 **EDA/UK:** Thank you

 **Guest:** I meant since there are so many stories that are higher than mine, and they just post pointless smut everywhere. I understand some of it, like Shinji01Ikari, but when it's crappy and only doing so well since 'harem' is in the summary. UGH! Kinda like _Killing Your Dark Future,_ it's an okay story, but it hasn't changed much, he makes some characters OOC without having story progression that makes them grow and the difference seem natural, and, biggest gripe, 'we all know tatsumi for month, let's all share him'. I understand that Tatsumi has knowledge of everyone else so him holding emotions for them is fine, them feeling the same after so short a time? Bit rushed but fine. Being able to share him with other women and not really giving any indication of anger or jealousy or something like that at the start of the relationship? No, just no.

I tune it when he updates, but he's lost me. A positive about his story though, I like how he knows that since Es can't turn **for** the Revolution in his world, he's working on just making her neutral and saying he'll go with her to make sure she follows her punishment of exile… despite not bringing that up with his girlfriends at all.

 **SPOM:** You probably haven't seen Fairy Tail or Bleach fanbase, there are lots of porn without plot stuff there including multiple busty girls on one guy.

 **Chapter 29-**

 **Mailbawx:** Thanks, but that hashtag fits the last chapter better than this one.

 **FFH:** -_-

 **Guest:** Yeah, I prefer making sweeter things, but I guess I can write decent smut. Who knew?

 **TJFW:** Engrossed and avarice were the words Leo couldn't pronounce. Most basic definition would be obsessed and greedy.

 **Not Logging In(guest):** DUDE! LOOK AT THE CHAPTER BEFORE THAT ONE! I POSTED BOTH! THE POLL WAS TO SEE WHAT CAME FIRST! DON'T BE AN ASS.

 **So we last left off with an unconscious spy being saved by Sheele, who was saved by Mine, who was saved by Lubbock, who was saved by Chelsea and somewhat Esdeath… Yeah, probably not the best place to leave a go off and have our** _ **menage a trois**_ **fuck, but that's beside the point. I've already written 505 words without even starting the chapter. Let's get this show on the road…**

 **Oh shit wait! CHAPTER 30 BITCHES! At this pace, should be finished before 50. Maybe 45. No clue, just gotta see what I fit in each chapter and how it affects the rest until the final end goal is reached.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

The three Rakshasa Demons and six Jaegers scoured the area to find any clue where the culprits could be hiding, after twenty minutes, they knew it was pointless to look further.

The group in question had managed to go to the basement, the reason Chelsea and Lubbock were there in the first place. Catacombs spread out the entire city, if properly mapped, they could prove to be a great passageway for Revolutionaries. It might even get them into the church where Borick kept him locked away. If not that far, then at least a building in the area.

As their group had a close win, the Demons dealt with their loss. They didn't show sadness or anger, they had long since accepted the possibility that they could all die at any second. Holding grudges would only impede judgement and cause them to die. Through years of horrid training, they were taught to keep a clean and balanced mind when fighting.

They would fight tooth-and-nail before dieing, but that doesn't mean they'll hold any ill will against their killer.

 **XxXx**

Najenda and the rest of those planning were made aware of the situation by a yellow beam blasting skywards.

They knew jumping out and going there would lead to a full frontal confrontation. That would cause the Jaegers to blow their cover when the two supposed enemies fought together.

Leone was able to calm them all down though. Esdeath shared her feelings and Leone could translate that none of the Raiders were found.

With a plan for the last three demons accounted for, they only needed to take into consideration if they teamed up and made sure to create possible scenarios in case of those events.

Now all that was left was execution, they couldn't do it one at a time, the remaining two would stay together and make elimination extremely more difficult to do stealthily.

So all three plans needed to start at the same time.

Bulat said he could take on the tall lanky one, Ibara. He looked like he could hit the hardest, and with the ability to move tree trunks, any hit could be blocked.

Lubbock would have to take out one in the alleyway. He would **not** stop whining about always being the one to take care of a pretty girl. He chose the one he thought was the ugliest; Suzuka

That left using the mob on Mez, it worked out best that a girl would be chosen for this section. Most street thugs would think a dainty looking woman like her could barely lift up a sword, not the very real possibility of her gutting them with a single finger.

All they needed to confirm was the date. After they killed them all, Borick would be a sitting duck.

 **XxXx**

A week passed as the Assassins examined the areas their attack would take place.

The graveyard was surrounded by a wild forest. It hadn't been maintained by humans, leading to the growth of more dangerous plants.

The alley usually was barren half an hour after sundown. Save a drunkard or beggar. After a minute of looking like a mad man, waving his hands about for no apparent reason, Lubbock was able to line the alley with string.

And the street of thieves Leone heard of was just an area where street urchins were abundant. Sleeping in the run down houses and using scraps for clothes. Despite the Path of Peace trying to find jobs for the adults and orphanages for the children, they couldn't save everyone.

The members that found hiding more difficult, due to their bright eyes, pigtails, and fashion sense or being someone who couldn't help tripping over their own feet, were left with exploring and mapping the catacombs. If they couldn't search above-ground without a high chance of getting caught, then they'd have to go below.

However, they were not the only ones to make preparations, the Demons were not idle during this time.

Three Revolution bases within the city were found out, each member was killed and all papers taken. Every desk was gutted and no stone was left unturned. It was only sheer luck that the discovered bases didn't have written reports about the underground passages. Then again, the Demons weren't known for torturing, so maybe those soldiers knew they'd have higher liability in keeping physical records…

After hearing that news, the Assassins doubled their efforts in finding a new trap for Mez. Someplace secluded that they could have an advantage.

Their answer was given by Ran. Roughly five miles south-east from the town was a canyon filled with ruins. Far from any possible interference and collateral damage would harm no one.

The traps were set and the plan was ready. Now the bait had to work.

 **Xx**

There was an eery feel to the next few days, like a calm before the storm. The people seemed more reserved, the animals more nervous. Everything seemed to be on their toes, alert for any problem.

Esdeath had been in a meeting with Borick for the last hour or so. She'd be sleeping if Tatsumi wasn't next to her. She liked to just watch him. How he shuffled on his feet after staying still to long. His hands going through his hair when he was trying to think of the right words to say. Despite seeing him do this countless times throughout his memories, she'd never go bored seeing his mannerisms. Such was her love for him… well, obsession.

Leone figured she should channel her jealousy into the mission. When this was over, she could play the role Esdeath told her of and be able to sleep in their arms once again.

When her focus returned, someone was coming towards the ruins.

A boy, roughly 5' 4" with dark brown hair, slightly tan skin, and green eyes. He wore clothes that didn't stand out and his body language showed he didn't want to.

He jogged closer to the ruins and met a cloaked figure.

From the cliff top, Mez watched the transaction between the Tatsumi double and his probable commanding officer.

After seeing him out in the city when he should have been in the church talking to Borick. The gyaru trailed the doppelganger through the city and into the ruins.

The target had gone through multiple points of interest, sometimes moving a package between a few. Now, Mez watched the latest transaction intently. The other ones happened indoors and out of her sight. Even with her trained eyes, she couldn't see through wood and stone.

Mez cursed as she wasn't able to read their lips. The copy was facing away from her and the taller one's mouth was covered in shadows.

Her eyes widened as her target faded to smoke and a redhead in a miniskirt stood in their place.

She smiled, her target turned out to have a teigu, and it wasn't combat oriented, so she'd get a bonus for retrieving a teigu for the Empire, and it'd be a piece of cake. Albeit annoying to get down there, but her sweat could help her slide down the rocks and her nails rappel her down.

Two minutes later and the blonde managed to climb down the side of the huge rock and not alert her enemies.

Her prey in sight, she dropped the horseshoes out of her hair and took off.

Chelsea knew the plan worked when she heard stone break and turned to find a human running full speed in an to kill them.

"You're up, Su." Chelsea's tone betrayed her actions. She sounded like she couldn't care less, but she jumped and looked over her shoulder with a look of fear. Doing the sissiest run she could think of into the cave. Her stomach turning at the lack of self respect this act held.

The man understood the power and speed of the incoming human and planned against it. His usual weapon couldn't be concealed well, so he had to forgo his preferred style for hand-to-hand combat.

Mez had seen many strange men in her time; some with bull heads, others with wolf. She herself, while not aesthetically noticeable, had lost what made her human during her training to become a Rakshasa Demon. Seeing a man with horns and a red spot on his chest didn't unnerve her.

With a swipe of an arm, sweat shot forward. She attempted to blind the man for an easier kill.

As he raised his arm to block the projectile, they dug slightly into his skin, but no damage was done.

Until his elbow was severed by sharp nails that pierced all the way through his sinew and tendons cut the joint in two.

To finish him quick, Mez slid between the falling limb and half an arm. Shoving her nails from the bottom of his jaw, up.

When her nails came out the top of his skull. She retracted them and tried to weave through the falling corpse to chase her high priority target.

"Huh?" She was near the mouth of the ruin when her back leg was caught and she was thrown.

With grace, she was able to position herself to land on her feet.

"Huh, not everyday you see a dead man walking." She had a smile on the outside, but was scrambling for an explanation inside her head.

"Since my creation, I have yet to see such a fighting style. It must have been formed when I was dormant… No matter, my task is to kill you. As per my orders, you will not leave here alive." With a swipe of his shorter arm, a new forearm grew in its place.

"So you're a Teigu. I must say, I never dealt with a biological one before." But she, along with the rest of her clique had memorized entirety of the Teigu book. Every biological Teigu had a core that kept them regenerating from death blows, so this one's had to be the hard looking red surface on his chest.

Not wasting time, the tan woman ran in close and swung her sweat again.

When he disappeared from her sight. Her eyes showed fear.

The ground cracked as she was slammed into the floor.

As a fist was gored through her side, she heaved and coughed up blood.

"My title is 'The Speed of Lightning' Susanoo. You might have caught me off guard with a style I've never seen before, but what makes you think I would let you get another hit in?"

She just coughed more blood when he pulled his arm back out.

"In my countless orders, i've yet to fail a single one. You will not be the one to destroy my perfect record."

Her eyes held contempt as she watched her assailant ready a death blow.

Not one to go down without a fight, she rolled onto her back and shoved her arms forward. All ten of her nails stabbed through his chest, but they were redirected whenever they neared his core.

"A demon… should go out… on their own terms." Her eyes were blurring as she was losing her grip on this world. "Even if it was pointless… I got the last hit." She pushed down a bloody cough. "So, in… your… face…" Her eyes glazed over as she died from blood lose.

The Teigu stared at the corpse. There was no movement of her chest, and no sound of a heart beat, she was dead.

"You can come back out, the target has been eliminated." Leone dropped from a higher opening with Chelsea in her arms.

"Damnit, I wanted to hit something."

"Oh calm down, you're job was to make sure that if she got into the caves that I wouldn't get killed. If you want to vent about something, do it on Lubbock."

"But he hasn't done anything."

"Su, you need to learn, Lubbock has _always_ done something wrong. Even right now, he's probably goofing off."

 **IXxXx**

Lubbock's lungs burned as he sprinted to the alley. The sun had fallen an hour prior, now he just needed to get this woman's attention.

He was actually looking for her when he was spotted first, now his smaller amount of string was being used to pull him to his trap.

Suzuka had just been on patrol when she noticed the man. He was good at acting like he wasn't there, but his eyes gave it away the most. Shifting around to find something in particular. When she approached him, he ran and was followed by her.

With a nail grazing his outer thigh, Lubbock landed in his trap without much finesse.

The vertette rolled deeper into the dead end as the woman with a bound breast chased him.

"So, I'm guessing that you're no ordinary thief or killer. You had far to much grace in your act to be some low life, and if memory serves, those gloves aren't normal. What was it; Toss Rails?"

"Cross Tails, you jackass." The chase had ended as Lubbock hit the wall. "But just knowing the name doesn't change this fight at all."

"Infinite Uses: Cross Tails, made from a dragon in the Eastern mountains. Trump card; Realm-Cutting Threads, strong wires capable of cutting through anything with enough force behind it."

"... Just because you know that doesn't mean-"

"It's a support Teigu, not one made for head to head combat, so wires are probably surrounding this alley already. But your wires need tension to slice through anything. Mez was always better at this, but it'd be stain in our reputation if I didn't give this my all."

Sweat poured from her skin as Suzuka ran her now extended arms against the walls. Coating all the strings in a thick layer of sweat. They drooped and became much more visible.

"Just because they have more weight doesn't mean they can't kill you!" By closing his hands, the wires wrapped around her.

The further he closed his fist, the more pressure was put on her. In time, she'd-

"Ahh~!"

Lubbock was not ready for this, as his string dug into the target's flesh, she was moaning in pleasure. The tighter he made it, the louder she got.

'Why do I always get the short straw?!' Even Lubbock blushed at her lack of restraint, how could she possibly be getting off on her own death.

It took a minute of this before Lubbock realized something; No blood was pooling under her, it was a clear liquid.

"More sweat?" Of course! She had been lacing Cross Tails with so much that it couldn't even break the skin.

"So what will you do? You can't even choke me since my body can survive without air longer than any average human, soon enough a guard patrol will come by. If you try to run; I can follow your string as it retracts. If you leave these threads, I can take them to be destroyed. There's no situation where you get a win."

Lubbock stared at her before scoffing. "I told you before, just because you know what Cross Tails can do, doesn't mean you know everything about what _I_ can do." He put his hand inside his coat.

"Normal Teigu users only have that as their weapon, but people like me, we need something else. Cross Tails is better when it takes an indirect approach to fighting, but sometimes..." Two simple daggers were drawn. "A direct approach is best.

As the blades were thrown, Suzuka bent her neck in an impossible angle. Blushing from the pain the two cuts left on her cheek.

"Cute, but you should make sure your opponent can't evade before you throw away your your only working weapon."

The pervert just chuckled. "You know the 'Infinite Uses' in Cross Tails' name isn't for show." His fingers twitched. "It's only limits are my imagination."

As the daggers changed course and embedded themselves in Suzuka's back. She still carried that lecherous grin as blood filled her lungs and she internally bled.

For safety, Lubbock used some clean string to slit her jugular. Since she stopped producing sweat, the wires could cut through with no problem.

"So lining this place was pointless." The manga freak grimaced as he looked at the retracting string. "I gotta ask Leone if she'll let me used her shampoo to clean this… or just jump in wi" Lubbock stopped short at the chill that shivered down his spine. Doing that would cause Esdeath to get angry, and he did **not** want to be the cause of that woman's ire.

Weighing his options, Lubbock made the most rational choice.

"... I think Sheele would give me the best chance for survival."

 **XxXx**

The leaves shook violently in the wind. A headstone was smashed as two tall and muscular men fought. The one with a pompadour wielding a spear couldn't attack with its tip as the purple haired combatant stayed within his guard and used his armored forearms to defend against strikes from the poll.

Bulat had been staying in the base located in the cemetery and waited for the claim of his sighting. His target was on patrol near him and a person screaming that out would cause him to arrive first on scene.

He'd have a few minutes while before the town guard arrived. They might not even show if a Jaeger managed to tell them to stand down. But he didn't know which one Esdeath assigned.

Either way, they had been trading blows for less than a minute and the Rakshasa Demon tried to take away his Teigu. That wasn't a smart idea.

After holding it for a second, his arm started to harden into bark and lose feeling. Even after letting go, his arm stayed numb and rough.

Bulat had been on the defensive, leading the man closer to the trees, but he wouldn't take the bait.

The two were left in a stalemate as neither pushed their position.

This was bad, if things didn't change soon, Bulat would have to resort to his Trump Card. Something he still didn't have full control over. They were to close to the city for him to activate it without fear of harming civilians.

The ground vibrated rhythmically as a pounding sound grew louder until a mass of muscle jumped over the city walls and hurdled towards them.

"Halt you nay sayer of good!... Still doesn't feel right." She had come in riding on a monster, but she didn't exude an aura of power.

Ibara jumped back from Bulat and shouted. "What are you waiting for? Kill that bastard."

The brunette shook her head and her dog stopped on the dime. "Your right. Listen Koro," The mount looked at her as she jumped of his side. "Get the target."

In mid-stride the quadruped started running on two feet and grew.

If he hadn't been training for all his live, Ibara would have gotten directly hit by the Teigu and his body ground into paste. But with precision and speed, his body twisted and contorted to evade the barrage of fists.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Hm, didn't you hear what I said to Koro, you're my target. I figure that if I can't see what true justice is, I can help those that are truly helping the people." While Seryu had gotten out of her depression, she still had trouble trying to find herself. Realizing that justice was not, is not, and never will be black and white; it was hard. Accepting that as a fact felt even more difficult, but seeing the children play around the church gave her hope. Hope that they could live with their family and grow to follow their own paths.

"Koro, don't let up." The beast returned to its assault and pushed the Demon every which way.

"Seryu was it? I can beat him, but I need you to back him closer into the forest." Seeing as every hit from the massive dog missed its mark, the ex-soldier told the former policewoman his idea.

"Yeah, that shouldn't be to hard." Looking at the Danger Beast, Seryu ordered its strikes to lead the man into their trap.

As they neared the foliage, the malibel man understood what they were trying to do. Cursing under his breath. He knew exactly what would happen.

When he grabbed that spear and was rejected by it, he could tell what it was.

'Nature's Wrath: Zagan. It was created by the material of a plant in the south that was connected to every flora in the surrounding jungle. It's said to be able to communicate with all plant life and bend it to its whim. Trump Car-' His thoughts stopped when a tombstone was thrown at him and hit his wooden arm, sending him into the trees.

Not skipping a beat, the hurt man tried to run out, but it was too late.

The branches and roots of the trees grabbed his limbs. Any that he broke were just replaced in the next instant. Screaming against his binds, Koro finally closed in.

In a massive chomp, the enemy was swallowed whole.

In the course of one night, the remaining Rakshasa Demons had all been assassinated. Now the true target was defenseless.

Borick would die and they would win.

 **XxXx**

"Huh, so ice bitch got out alive, not to mention that the country trash with her is her fiance." Syura was walking through the hallways in the palace. Him and his group had arrived just a few days ago. After his troupe showed how powerful they were by annihilating a slew of death row inmates, he heard news about Esdeath. To his surprise, the Capital's Strongest had survived lava raining from the sky.

"But that still doesn't explain the blonde you told us about." Their blonde spoke. The little vampire trotting along, hungry to see what sorts of experiments she could test with the technology of the Capital.

"People can feel the urge to experiment in their relationship, maybe things got stale in the bedroom." The bunny girl Cosmina spoke.

"After a month?"

"Look at Champ there, he goes for something new after every time." The clown showed no interest in the conversation as no children were involved.

"That's comparing apples to pedophiles."

"Shut it, Enshin."

"All of you shut up." Their leader took a breath. "We're in deep shit. Sure, for now we're the law of this place because of these stupid badges." He flashed an ID titled 'Wild Hunt' with the picture of a wolf's head. "But when that crazy bitch comes back, she's gonna hang us on a pike… after we died from her torture."

"You're the one who put us in this mess, figure it out." Izou didn't much care about his own life, just Kousetsu getting the blood it yearns for.

"Don't just stand there and put all this on me!"

"I don't know why you're getting so worked up on this, the answer is easy." Dorothea just kept walking.

"The hell are you talking about?" Syura grabbed her arm and made her turn to face him.

"Her boyfriend, dumbass. She's the strongest person in the world, but when you mocked her partners, she lost her cool and attacked. So take the boy hostage and she can't disobey you unless she wants him to die."

"All that's left would be finding a way to capture him." Syura had an evil smile on his face. "It might take a little digging, but I should be able to find a way to get him in our trap. Good job, I knew your brain could be used for something other than mutilating people."

The vampire just rolled her eyes.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **A slightly bigger chapter since I wasn't able to update on schedule, sorry about that. I'll try to get the next one out in ten days, but I can't make any promises. The stabbing sensation is gone from my back, but some headaches, light headedness, and coughing attacks still show up.**

 **The Rakshasa Demons are gone, I realize how horribly you can misinterpret what that liquid is under Suzuka, and Wild Hunt has been formed.**

 **Next chapter, oh boy, it's a turning point for the story(or maybe it's the next one), but you guys get to decide whether it's a good or bad one.**

 **Have an Awesome time. N.I.A.**


	31. We're Not In the Capital Anymore

**MCRasengan:** Esdeath is the Tyrant, he's more like the court jester.

 **DL:** Through some shutters… on a cloudy day.

 **Guest:** Thank you.

 **Soggy Noodle(Guest):** Thank you.

 **HB:** The stupid harem stories just have him act like an idiot and all the girls are hopelessly in love with him after 3 seconds. But the good ones that build his relationship with each girl, those are great.

 **LWakaBHO:** Thanks.

 **TJFW:** Well, Sten died without realizing it. Suzuka died horny/climaxing. Mez was content with getting the final blow. Ibara hated that fact that he was just dieing in general.

 **One favor before we start, go into the reviews and report 'Lucas FTW' for spam. Just click on the triangle with the exclamation mark and a new tab will open, just say 'spam' as the type and explain why it's spam.**

 **So… I started this story nearly 1 year ago… fuck. Thank all of you guys for joining and supporting me throughout this year. I hope that before december rears its head that I'll already be on my second actual story.**

 **About that story.**

 **The first place contender is** _Spirit of Fire_ **at 41 votes.**

 **The second place holder is** _Dragon of Summer_ **at 35 votes.**

 **Third is** _A Bet's A Bet_ **at 28 votes.**

 **Fourth is** _A Dragon's Fate_ **at 16 votes.**

 **One is Natsu as a celestial spirit in a pure Fairy Tail story. Two is a Fairy Tail/RWBY crossover. Three is a small story about Mulan Rouge(Bisca) and Natsu. Four is a Fate/Stay Night/Fairy Tail crossover. All have plans made for how the story will progress, so if you still haven't voted, go on and do, you're able to vote for two.**

 **Note: I have a plan for another one-shot between Natsu and a certain busty redhead who was prisoner for years. That will most likely be made as another Christmas project like my** _Best Present Ever_ **was last year.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

"This is the most boring man on earth." Syura had been looking for any dirty secret Tatsumi could be hiding. A special prostitute, kids, a kid prostitute, his own kid who was a prostitute. Nothing came up, he was sparkly clean with nothing Wild Hunt could exploit.

"You've been reading some trashy books if you thought those last two things were possibilities."

Syura just kept looking through reports. "Fuck off, that was the only thing I could get my hands on for the trip from the last village we destroyed on route to the capital." He flipped past a few more pages. "Why are you here anyways, weren't you going scrounging through the junk that Stylish left when he was offed?"

"I was, but I found something interesting." She showed him a file. "Apparently the mad doctor had a code in his notes. I cracked them and found something interesting."

His eyes moved across the paper as his smile grew feral."A hidden lab… Grab whoever you want, if you can find something from the doc about any tests to Ice Bitch's powers, it'll help us stand a chance, and know where best to teleport her if need be."

"Don't worry, i'll be sure to bring plenty of fodder to use as pack mules for anything of value we find there." Her mind raced with everything that could possibly be hidden there.

 **XxXx**

"I did not expect this." The vampire looked around the room in surprise.

She had entered the base with twenty goons and five wagons. It took half a day, but they arrived at the entrance. A door hidden with a stone pressure pad and combination locked metal door after the wall retreated.

Inside was freezing, the moment she opened the door a fog rolled out into the late Fall air. As her and her group ventured deeper, she took a coat from a random stooge. She didn't need it, but she wanted to see how cold it was to see when frostbite or hypothermia started to set it.

As the group split up under her orders to look for anything that seemed important. She made her way to the most important room, the experimentation room. Such is where Dorothea was now.

Encased in pillar of ice was a corpse with a disfigured head. The body appeared to belong to a man, average height and build, but his outfit is what caught her attention. A lab coat. Stylish was a careful man, he'd never have trusted someone with his knowledge. Meaning that the only scientist here should have been him.

"Well, I found his body." This ruled out that desertion theory, a few smaller voices in the Capital thought the doctor had left since his agenda was no longer in line with theirs. "But who could have done this, he was killed months ago, so this ice couldn't have been preserving his corpse for this long… unless the person stayed here to keep it this way." She wasn't alone here, the ice did seem strange, but until she saw this, doubts flew in her mind. Syura thought that the old coot had to have tried to experiment with Demon's Extract, the only recorded Teigu that could control ice to this extent.

"Oh, you're good. Doctor would have loved to meet you." A voice reverberated through the ice.

Fuck her luck.

Looking around her, she couldn't see anyone, correction, any **thing** that could have spoken, despite having augmented her body to superhuman limits.

An insane cackle shook her bones. "Our lord was such a brilliant and beautiful star, if only those that burned twice as bright didn't live half as long." Her insanity turned to melancholy. "Why are you here? What do you want? There are twenty of you split up into ten groups of two...Wait," The voice started to hyperventilate. "You're trying to take our master's work aren't you… NO NO NO NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!" Her rage made her loop.

The vampire had been in many fights during her time in Wild Hunt and many before then, noticing the frost on the floor trying to impale her wasn't to difficult, but the one's that came from the walls and ceiling, those were the annoying ones.

Dorothea had no idea how long she was dodging the stalactites and mites, but her ragged dress was drenched in sweat when the voice broke into laughter and the onslaught finally stopped.

"You're a funny one. Oh if only you could have met the doctor, he'd have had so much fun playing with you." The blonde didn't know if the voice meant dissecting her or them joining forces, but she had to get out of this place otherwise she might actually die.

"Stop for a second." Dorothea swallowed saliva to try and help her burning throat. "I didn't come here to take anything."

"Ah ah ah, liar liar pants-on-fire." The voice had gotten somewhat clearer, she could tell that it seemed feminine at least. "All of your other walking corpses had tried to beg for their lives by apologizing for trying to take my master's things."

'Those goddamn idiots, they couldn't lie to save their asses.' "I must respectfully say you are wrong." The air seemed to change. "While those brutes were here to take your honorable lord's things, I was just looking for answers. And seeing that the man who I came here for is dead, I have no purpose being here anymore. So I can just be going and you'll never see me again."

Her thoughts betrayed her words. 'Until we plan how to kill you and take everything in this lab. Stylish's corpse might have something on it too. This place is to much of a possible goldmine to let some psycho have it all… some _uneducated_ psycho at least.'

"Oh, it'd be easy to let you go." A row of walls deteriorated and lead straight to where the main entrance was. "But that isn't fun." The frozen constructs came back with no problem. "How about… oh, that sounds nice… no, to quick… what about what we did to- o~hoho, I love the way you think.~" Her insane rambling now came from the left. "Why don't we meet face to face?"

The wall gave way and a girl only slightly taller than Dorothea walked in. Blood caked her hands and mouth, dripping down the remnants of her shirt. "Sorry about the look, I just got some fresh meat after surviving off experiments for Stylish knows how long." She was waving around a severed human arm.

Her clothes seemed to be tatters, even the new coat she took from her freshest kill of soldiers was filled with holes. Her long hair black matted and unkempt. Barefoot on the ice that would cause frostbite for any normal human. Her skin seemed to have taken on a shade of blue.

"She wants to see just how good you are. She thinks you're holding back, I do too. So how do you like this deal? Play with me and you'll either live or die. Simple as that."

The vampire opened her mouth to oppose.

"Five, five, five, five, five. You have that many seconds, you best get your head-start."

Turning on her heel, the alchemist booked it. With Demon's Extract in this person's blood, she couldn't drink it without succumbing to insanity herself, and nothing on her person would harm the mental patient without skin contact. Any airborne pathogens and she'd risk harming herself in this closed off lab. "Fuck my life."

The fifth second passed and the wall two turns back had shattered to nothing. "Here comes the kitty, hope you're ready little mousey."

If she made it out of this place, she'd get Syura to burn it to the ground, information or no.

 **XxXx**

Claws, huge ones made from pure ice were on her hands and feet as she ran on all fours like an animal. They gave her more traction on the floor and with ice everywhere, she could 'see' where the little vampire was and figure out where she would go by the vibrations running through her ice.

'One left, stay straight, one right, and the first door to the left.'

Following those directions, the insane woman was giggling as she crashed through the walls, heading through the laboratory diagonally. Skipping the traps Dorothy left for her, a steaming green goop that was dripping from the ceiling, and one navy blue that trapped all the ice that fell in it into an inescapable hold.

"Hahaha, fun fun fun." Deciding to give the Alchemist _some_ chance, the murder-hungry girl stuck to the actual path, plus these walls were reinforced. The testing room were made to hold back a hit from Adramalech, her current power would barely scratch it.

"Hm?" She stopped her bounds and got back up on two feet. "She stopped moving?"

One right, one left, one right, past the door, the prey had ceased movement.

While insanity plagued her mind, she wasn't dumb. Her opponent had set traps while running for her life. She wasn't someone to take lightly.

" _Are you going in from the sides, or behind?"_ The voice in her head spoke.

"One door, one in, one out, one last stand." She clasped her hands in prayer; "Lord Stylish, how you would have been overjoyed to rip this spirit out of this girl." Her dreamy smile faded as she opened the only door. She cocked her head and drooped her hands.

"... Where is she?" The ice in her control had encompassed everything within this fortress, she had no blind spots as long as the ice was there, but somehow this girl had disappeared from this room, it was only a body part from a nearby corpse. "Where, where-where-where, WHEREWHEREWHEREWHERE!?" She started slamming her head against the floor.

Words spoke in the back of her mind. " _Fight or Flight is the natural response of every weaker being, in her flight she found a way to elude you. My worthless user."_ The ice demon liked the broken girl's urge to fight and kill, but not how simple she acted with her powers.

Instead of just trapping her head in a block of ice, she tried to stab at the girl, even when she knew where she was heading and didn't attack preemptively, even stabbing her hands would have been fine.

The game was fun, but not when the prey escaped.

When the sounds of impact stopped, the Extract user kept her head on the floor. "Wait a second, wait wait wait." She rubbed her face on the ice, sliding it and feeling a more coarse and bumpy layer just a few feet away.

"Haha, no way- she- i can't even- pff hahahahahahaha!" She laughed her head off at the brilliance behind her opponent.

"Melting the ice, I never thought she'd figure out about me using that to 'see'. If only Master was still here, he could have cultivated her mind into something so precious." Picking her bloody head off the floor, the girl got on all fours and continued her mad dash with even more fervor.

 **XxXx**

Dorothea felt like a lung was going to collapse. Running full speed for as long as possible would make anyone tired, but pacing herself meant letting that psycho catch up and kill her.

It was blind luck that her gambit paid off. A small shaving of Champ's fire orb combined with a special mix she'd be saving equated to being able to melt anything in five feet from her, sure her hands felt like charred meat, but nothing she couldn't fix later.

After finding a leftover from her men, she was able to throw it into that training room while she continued through the maze like structure.

Hearing the insane laughter echo throughout the complex let her know just how much time she bought herself. Nearly a minute thirty.

Cursing under her breath, she kept panting as her chest felt like it was on fire. Her device would keep the girl from finding her instantly, but she'd still be found sooner than later.

'Run, the exit is close, just a bit more.' She tried to keep herself going, but words could only do so much to someone who could barely sprint for ten seconds, let alone a minute. The shot of adrenaline she gave herself could only last so long.

Crashes and bangs were heard from behind as the brunette hit the walls in her mad dash.

Fear pushed her onward. When she finally turned to see the open doorway, she felt like she was going to vomit.

Just as she reached the wall, the ice closed the passage.

"NO!" Anger and fear took control for one second. Then she remembered how that would get her killed and went back to thinking.

She grabbed the super heated vial with both hands and smashed it against the ice. Her hands burned and glass cut into her palms, but the door broke, letting her jump out before the ice reformed.

Writhing for air, Dorothea wanted to stay there and let the sweet oxygen fill her lungs, but she had to keep going. Get on the horses and get back to the capital. Wild Hunt would have enough power to take her on if they fought together, but she was better support than frontline. Alchemists always created concoctions, be them curative or damaging, all held use. But this monster couldn't be hit dead on, not if she could create spikes to defend herself.

Getting on all fours, the vampire scurried to her feet to run to the horses.

As she grabbed the saddle of one just untied, a crash came from the entrance, nearly popping her shoulder out as the animal ran in terror.

"HAHAHAHAHA, this was fun." The wounds she inflicted on herself had frosted over. The frozen blood looking like some demented tribal paint. "But still," Dorothea was fifty feet away and just properly seated herself on the horse. "I win."

" **Mahapadma.** "

When Dorothea blinked, her horse was headless and its body was falling to the ground, trapping her leg underneath its carcase.

"FUCK!" Her enhanced body let her shove the corpse off her, but that didn't change the fact that it fucking hurt and her leg felt fractured. Not to mention the rocks that dug themselves into her skin.

"Just around four seconds." The vampire broke into a cold sweat. "I can stop the entire world for just four seconds." Looking up, she saw her hunter with the horse head on a pike.

Tears filled her eyes as she realized that she was going to die here.

"So, only one thing left." Steam rose from her frigid body.

Accepting the fact that she was going to die, she closed her eyes and opened her arms.

The psychotic woman hoisted the blonde into the air… "Where can I find more?"

Opening her eyes, the bloodshot orbs held confusion. "W-what?"

"People like you, people who can give me a rush like you, people who can beyond normal limits to survive, people who would fight tooth and nail to survive, people who'd kill their best friends just for a minute added to their life." Her hands moved from the tattered remains of the alchemist's dress to her face. Cupping it and bringing it closer to her insane sky blue eyes.

Feeling the panting against her skin and the powerful bloodlust surrounding her. Dorothea could barely breathe, but it was like the woman said; she'd sell her friends out for even a second more of life.

"Just let me fix my leg, then I'll take you right to 'em." This was either the best decision in her life, or the worst.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Huh, I didn't think that this entire chapter would be about Dorothy finding the wicked witch of the snowy peaks of hell. I originally planned this to last the start of the chapter and then have Tatsu get taken by WH. Guess I got carried away.**

 **In case you were pissed about the OC knowing how to do Mahapadma. Extract is basically making itself home in the mind of that girl, she influences what she wants to happen, but can't make her do things outright.**

 **Speaking of OC girl, I am open for suggestions on her name. I haven't really thought about anything. Maybe 'white', 'snow', 'cold', or 'frost' in a different language, maybe German like Esdeath's moves?**

 **Well, that about covers everything, I bid you ad-** _*rock smashes through window*_

 **There's a note? "Why didn't you update for nearly a month; you** _*ten minutes later*_ **like a pig, sincerely, your readers." Oh yeah, I should bring that up.**

 **Short version: I graduated High School, am taking College classes, still am sick after a month(fucking hate that one the most), and I didn't put my whole effort into this despite having nothing to do some days where I could have made headway on this, so for that. I apologize.**

 **I am sorry for not updating in so long despite many chances to do so. I will try to get the next chapter out in 10 days like before, but it might come in about 13~15 since my family and I are going on a camping trip soon, so I might not be able to post the chapter while away.**

 **I hope all of you were awesome while I was away. N.I.A.**


	32. Goodbye

**Thanks to all of you guys for the names. I think I got it down now.**

 **Soggy Noodle(Guest):** Don't worry, Tatsu won't be beat by some random, mary sue, OC. I promise you that.

 **Mailbawx:** Thank you

 **Shitposter-Kun:** I SWEAR, OC Girl will NOT be the one to defeat Tatsu. I WILL GIVE YOU MY STORY IF SHE DOES.

 **XxXxXxXx**

The entire way back, Dorothea felt like she was stepping on needles. Partially due to the pain she was in, mostly because of the cannibalistic, insane woman, who was injected with Demon's Extract.

Using one of the few living horses, the two rode back to the capital. The demon riding back.

Never would she have thought that a vampire would worry about having someone bite at **their** neck.

On the trip, the freezing silence made Dorothea much more aware of her heart pounding in fear. If her plan didn't work, then either this bitch behind her or the gyaru back in the Capital would kill her.

Esdeath was going to murder them. This girl was just a foot-soldier for Stylish, a mere grunt. Yet she had the capability to kill the blonde instantly if she so wished.

Thinking about how someone who was battle hardened through years of surviving in the harshest terrain on the planet and many wars… Her stomach churned in terror at the behemoth they would face.

So they wouldn't face her, not without something to fight against her ice powers. And so, that's where this maniac came in.

While holding the Empire's Strongest's boy-toy hostage would stop her from outright slaughtering them. She would eventually find out where he was taken. Even if Syura teleported him, she would grab Shambhala from his, most likely severed, hand and go endlessly until she found him.

Now, when they inevitably entered a confrontation, this would combat her Teigu. All they needed to worry about then would be her physical abilities.

…She should give her teammates some enhancements when she got back.

 **XxXx**

While Syura had mastered martial arts from all over the globe, the patience he had from before his leave, had stayed the same.

He had looked through every report and decided to cool off his bloodlust by going to a bar...

"FUCK!"

"Oh shit, I think he's dead!"

And kicking the everloving crap outta the drunk patrons that tried to pick a fight with him. He purposely hid his face and left his badge back in the palace since he didn't want people running away and pissing themselves in fear.

He could get why Esdeath would leave people alive from her massacres, when they come back angrier and stronger, it's much more fun to shove their faces back into the dirt where they belong.

Around the fifth bar, fortieth near dead opponent, and twentieth drink; Syura felt happy. But that nagging fact of their impending doom was still in the back of his mind.

Getting the bumpkin would be easy, he had no Teigu in a squad full of Teigu users. Sure, Shambhala wasn't great for one on one combat, but put him against an army? An entire legion would be sent to the freezing north, another to the Western wasteland. He could even bring object through to deal even more damage; like cannonballs from the Capital's armory reaching terminal velocity or a sea of lava.

Any Teigu was a force to be reckoned with.

The only problem was getting him away from Esdeath. The rest of her group had a worse track record than a dead horse in the races, but she was known to single handedly take out an entire military flank.

A military order should work. An order by his old man that requested the kid to come to guard some random noble while the rest who actually have Teigu safeguard the jagoff, Boris or something, from Night Raid.

The capture had to be quick and clean, sure they could rough him up, but no one had much in restraint in his team. Meaning death was more than likely to happen. Even then, having the Ice Queen train you for months, you'd never let your guard down. He probably slept with his eyes open. Never letting his guard down for even a moment.

 **XxXx**

Tatsumi groggily opened his eyes as a strawberry was rubbed against his lip like lipstick.

Eating it, he looked at the girl feeding him.

"What was that for, Leone?"

"I saw some food being used in one of Lubbock's hentai. I was just curious how good it actually was."

"Okay."

…

"Wait, what?" Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he was treated with a surprise.

Leone had a whipped cream bikini with strawberry toppers.

"Yeah, Es is putting on hers right now."

Her words fell on deaf ears as her target had fainted after understanding the situation.

"Oh, so he did get overwhelmed. I told you, we should get him to actually do the deed before trying to spice things up." Esdeath came into the room with a syrup bikini, kept cold by her power to keep it from dripping off. "Should I get some smelling salts to wake him up after we clean this off?"

"Why waste good food?" Esdeath scoffed at Leone's comment, but she did grab a strawberry and dip it into her edible bikini.

 **XxXx**

If they wanted to take him in alive, precision and control would be key.

Champ's powers had no levels to it. It was all or nothing. He's out on the grounds that he'd kill him outright.

Enshin would be a good shot, with Winter coming, nightfall started to last longer and longer. So as long as he kept cool and aimed to maim, not kill, then he'd be a solid choice.

Dorothea was a definite, while she could be ruthless, she was one of the only ones smart enough to heal him if any damage done was to significant.

Cosmina would be nice, but she couldn't control her Heavy Pressure well. Her output was always set to crush bones and rupture organs. While a dial on the mike held some power, it was more based on her voice. Her tone and volume could make the killing power of her Teigu just turn into a speaker that could give orders to an entire army without needing someone to repeat. All in all, she was out, to little self control.

Izou… yeah, no real chance of him coming along. Not once has someone he fought come out alive. While great for death battles, not at all what they needed right now.

And the last guy was himself. He could control himself well enough and take out rabble no problem, but the last thing he wanted to do would be underestimating the lover of the Capital's Strongest. Even if he used Shambhala to send the hick to a room with no exits in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, he'd find out about the defect of his teleportation itself.

Moving the objects from two completely different spaces meant that there is a time frame where both points are connected in a two way door. Even if it's for a fraction of a second before he pushes something from one space to the other, given enough time, Esdeath could find it, so while it'd take him a while longer. It would become a matter of when, not if.

"Three out of six, damn, I never thought i'd say this, but those guys need to learn control."

He went to a few more bars and their patrons before he came back to strategizing. A nice buzz keeping him content.

'We got the way to get him there, the people to get him, but we need something to get him off guard. After that first step is taken, he'll be on nothing but defense until we break him.'

He noticed a little kid slipping through the bar during thoughts. The boy was good at slight of hand, he'd pick-pocketed most of the people here. Granted nearly everyone probably wasn't going to remember what they were doing one minute ago, let alone this night.

As the child neared him, he readied his hand to snap the boy's arm. That coin would make for a little more fun tonight too.

To Syura's surprise, the kid was stopped by another one. Taller and a little shaggier hair. The probable leader of their thief ring.

"We aren't supposed to steal anymore, Mr. Tatsumi gave us that money to start doing good things, not steal."

The younger boy looked down in shame. "I know, but-" A hand clamped around his throat and lifted him into the air.

"Say there, what exactly do you know about this; 'Mr. Tatsumi'?" Seems like going around to calm his nerves also lead him right where he needed to be.

 **XxXx**

Might not have been his shining moment, then again he'd raped countless women and killed many more, but he found something that would help the most.

Their target was a bleeding heart. Ironic since his wife to be was a sadistic murderer, but the country kid had given this kid enough money to buy a whole stable of high class horses. What he could make out through the kids' sobbing, him and a that blonde bimbo checked in on them once in a while.

So now, they just needed to set the stage and let his plan come to fruition.

 **XxXx**

Syura had been sleeping off his hangover when the message was delivered. He was called to 'settle a situation at the eastern gate of the Capital, one of his group was in need of his assistance.'

Either way, that messenger couldn't tell him who it was since his jaw was dislocated and he lost quite a few teeth. That's what happens when you speak too loud to someone hungover with the power to break a normal person like a twig

After cleaning himself off a bit, he made his way down to the gate.

Safe to say, it was surprising to see Dorothea beaten to kingdom come and some weird fairy, frost demon, albino chick to be riding bitch on a single horse.

"Why the fuck did you call me over? Why not just go fix yourself up and take your… experiment with you?" While they fought together, they didn't deal with the other's personal shit.

Her eyes were screaming murder at him. "Syura, this… woman is very important for your plans. And I need you to help me!" Her voice was right under a shout through clenched teeth.

"What are you talking about?" Dorothea would never try to pull something on him, so this girl would have to hold some power.

"This lady is our way to counter Demon's Extract." Her eyes went back to the cannibal. "Can you show him?" Now that was eye catching, the vampire never asked, only ordered, so what could be so scary?

The blue skinned woman smiled, showing a bloody smile. "Gotta give to get I see, why not?" Her hand waved.

A horde of ice monsters formed behind her, ranging from a simple Anacondria and Manticore to a colossal Mountain dragon, nearly eight stories tall.

"And." Another wave.

The ice converged into a simple knight, a standing suit of armor fit with sword and shield… standing at 12 stories.

Syura couldn't hide his smile, not that he wanted to but good god, that took away some part of Ice Bitch's power, things were looking u-

 ***BLEAGH***

He stopped staring at the giant soldier as it crumbled to snow. Looking at the caster he saw why. She was on her knees as she threw up blood. Coughing to clear her throat and breath again.

"UGH, why does going all out at once never end up well?" She seemed more annoyed that this happened rather the fact that she spewed a decent amount of blood.

"What just happened?"

"What do you think? I just used to much power up at one point." The crazy girl put her hand on her gut and ice spread. "Now my organs are back together, all that got ruptured is fixed."

She jumped back up to a stand like nothing had even happened.

"This, this is who'll save our asses from Ice Bitch?!" She had Extract, but she just used up all her power for a show off, she had barely kept all that up for thirty seconds. A greenhorn like that could never stand up to Esdeath. The general had been able to hold off an entire brigade with a secondary camp while her main forces were delayed by a natural disaster.

"Don't count me out yet, sure ya got a point in me only having this power for a few months, but I don't die easy." She pulled up the rags covering her stomach and it seemed fine, apart from the blue skin tone.

That was until she stabbed herself.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" The broadsword was through and through before it went dispersed, as she coughed more blood, the cut mended itself with ice and her skin became even lighter than it once was.

"When I found out Stylish died, I tried to stab my heart, I thought I would die quick, but it never came. Slit throat and wrists later, I found death was annoyingly hard to get. So, that's why I'm looking for strong people. Someone to kill me and let me be with my lord once again." Her face had changed from the joy of praise to seriousness in a beat. "Of course I won't just give someone my life. It took me a while before I finally realized it, but I am my lord's final creation, his magnum opus, his coup de gras, chef d'oeuvre, tour de force, pièce de résistance. I am his most perfect and greatest work. I won't sully his name with a meaningless death. The world will remember his name through me, if I go, it'll be against the strongest in the world… Now then, I showed you my power, it was give some to get some. Now it's your turn." Her voice carried an undertone of threat.

"You want something strong to kill you but'll fight tooth-and-nail to survive… then you came to the right man." The symbol of Shambhala appeared beneath her. "You got four hours before I open the portal again. At the other side is a fire breathing Danger Beast hive located far south-west. Come back through when you want something stronger." The girl was gone in the next instant.

"Did you actually send her to the Salamander den?" Dorothea had tried to meld into the background to escape the insane woman.

"Yeah, they'll all be destroyed by her, but their sheer numbers will make her get used to that ice army of hers. She said she won't let herself die to something weak, so we need to make her stronger to save our own asses against Esdeath. A greenhorn won't work. We need a battle hardened veteran.

"So, mind telling the story of how you got her?"

"Get me to my lab and I won't leave a detail out." She winced as she looked at her hands. Third degree burns, that'd be annoying to fix, but doable.

 **XxXx**

Tatsumi stood at the gate to Kyoroch, a letter had just arrived hours ago on one of the fastest birds the Capital had alongside a signature from the Prime Minister himself.

While everyone knew there had to be some sort of angle he was playing here, they didn't have time to figure it out as he was ordered to arrive in a week's time. Meaning traveling as light as possible and fast as possible. So he was glad he didn't need to sleep, but that didn't mean his horse was the same.

"I hate this feeling in my gut." Leone was leaning on a corner away from him, being near him but unable to be with him. "He's doing this for some twisted reason, that's why he does everything he does."

"I feel the same too, but we can't just ignore his orders, at most it'd be treason and desertion. Which is exactly what he'd push, bribe, and blackmail everyone to agree."

'I cannot wait until he's no longer left in this world and we can dispose of the tumor lodged within this nation.' Esdeath stood stoic as she let the two hear her thoughts.

The bond they shared through the intermingling of their fused blood had increased even further than before. The last step was just feeling and conveying emotions to each other nearly half a city away. Now, with much focus and effort, they could pass thoughts with a chance of the others hearing them. Only Esdeath seemed to have a hundred percent success rate at this.

"Just keep choreographing what will happen with Boric and you 'killing' one of us. After that, we can head to the capital and take down all the targets we need to before the fat bastard himself." Tatsumi muttered under his breath, Leone's cat ears twitched under her coat to catch that as Esdeath heard clearly from her spot next to him.

The death of the Demons was a huge win for the Revolutionaries, but Night Raid couldn't just come into the building and walk out scot free.

They planned out who was going to fight who, what moves would be made, who would finally kill the man they spent nearly a month after.

WIth the fact that her group had no wins under their belt, Esdeath knew that any total failures would not be accepted. So they decided to take someone's head.

Susanoo was to be decapitated by Esdeath and shown to the petty nobles and elites after they shaved off his horns. It would make them think that they were able to take out someone in Night Raid who managed to push their strongest fighter somewhat. While it wouldn't totally save them from the fire of Borick's death, it would help mitigate the damage this failure would cause them.

All that left Tatsumi here was him waiting for his horse to pull up, so his lovely ladies had wanted to stay with him until they no longer could.

Down the street, as a man who wore a skull similar to a gazelle's on his head passed their way, he had to stop. Seeing a red string connecting the hearts of some humans was normal for him, in the sea of people who entered his sermons he'd notice a few dozen tied by fate in his mass of hundreds. Yet this was a first; a frayed string.

The others were solid, winding their way towards the soul they were bound to. The frayed one seemed to spin out, but when it reached the blue haired military woman, it wrapped tighter around her than any string he'd seen before. A few feet to the side and he saw another endpoint of the fray. A woman, leaning on a wall, wearing a brown coat you could buy dirt cheap at most any clothing store. While, aesthetically, they were nothing alike, the string wrapped both with great force.

While the two women were not bound to love by fate, it would only make sense that they would come to love one another from the fervor of the young man.

"My Lord, we must move, we're blocking the traffic." One of his attendants had brought him out of his mind. When he looked to them, they didn't hold his gaze.

"Thank you, I was lost in thought." He faced forward, but his eyes stayed on the anomaly for as long as he could.

That man's life would be an interesting one, that's for sure.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **All honesty, I just couldn't really feel much for this chapter, maybe that's because it was 90% setup.**

 **Some scenes felt rushed and wonky, but that might be me trying to push more from myself.**

 **Sorry for this update taking so long, I did say it would probably take 15 days since I was going camping, but I also felt a lack of motivation to write. Prolly since this was all build up.**

 **With all that will happen next chapter, i'm pretty sure I'll RUSH to do that one. Despite first being scared to write fight scenes, I've found it quite fun, same with the sexy fluff scenes.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter and have an awesome day. -N.I.A.**


	33. Hunters or the Hunted

**Guest:** He said that when she gets out of there he'd send her somewhere stronger. That won't be enough to combat Es, but for now he's training her ability to create ice structures. Esdeath can create the countless ice spears and the huge fuck-off pillar against the humanoid Danger Beast no problem. This girl'll probably pass out less than halfway through the fight if that is her tolerance.

 **FFH:** Thanks

 **Soggy Noodle(Guest):** Well, when they act out of character with their mistakes i can get it, but if the girl is known to always explore creepy decrepit houses, then it'd make sense for your character to do that.

Tatsumi is a bleeding heart, that's why this isn't out of character. He's shown countless times how he wants to help people. He places the lives of civilians above his own, died for it too in the anime.

 **XxXxXxXx**

Black smoke left a scar in the clear blue sky, acting as a beacon for their target.

They had destroyed a few bridges to direct the man to the path closest to this village. Secluded for the next twenty miles, a little country place that kept to itself and tried not to affect the world outside of their bubble.

When the world came to them however, they didn't stand a chance.

Granted that some had armor and weapons, they were trained to scare off thieves and animals, they lasted three seconds. One for each of the Wild Hunt members there.

Enshin was a bit pissy about not being able to get some fun time with the girls there, but Syura only needed to remind him about the important fact that, if this didn't succeed, Esdeath would probably cut off his dick and shove it down his throat somehow.

The horse's whines and gallops gave away his position first.

The hunt had finally began.

 **XxXx**

This was the fourth day Tatsumi was on the road, the most direct road to the Capital had been unavailable due to Danger Beasts destroying the bridge or a mudslide making the area completely untraversable.

The fact that there was no rain the past week and the Danger Beasts were not in their natural environment was the fishy thing. He knew _something_ had to be up, but he didn't know what it could be. Either way, he found the only road open to him was passing this rural town.

The smoke had to be coming from there. Despite knowing he was lead to here, he couldn't stand by while civilians were in danger.

When the village was only a few hundred feet away, Tatsumi had already made a plan.

 **XxXx**

With the sun falling behind their backs, Enshin and Syura were waiting behind walls that now stood on their own, waiting for the horse to come a little closer.

The two jumped from behind their cover without thought as the target came in range.

Enshin flung two blades of paltry moonlight at the horse so it would drop on the man, while Syura went to kick him dead in the face.

The horse collapsed into a heap as the light crushed its brain, leaving Syura to hit air.

Looking around, the dark skinned man found no trace of the target, even the horse didn't have a saddle or sidebags.

"... I'm checking the forest, you try to find him in the town."

 **XxXx**

As his horse ran towards the entrance of the village, little killing intent making it run for its life. Tatsumi had ran through the woods and entered through the side, what looked like a graveyard.

Expanding his field of perception, he could feel two people to the east who just killed his horse and one to the north-west. If it was a bandit, he could take him out easiest. If it was a villager, they would be the only one left.

Without making excess noise, the hybrid had made his way in front of the town hall, confronting the lone human.

Their eyes widened at seeing him, opening their mouth to shout at him, he quickly shot forward to cover theirs.

"I'm here to help you," He looked at the pyre she was on. "Tell me what happened while I get you out of this." Pulling his hand away from her mouth, he felt the oil they poured on her to make her light faster.

"Thank you, thank you, praise the lord, I thought I was dead." Her voice had a slight accent to it, normal for those closer to the Western nations than the Capital.

"It's all right, just tell me what happened." Tatsumi walked to the other side of the pole she was tied to and pulled out his sword to cut at the chains. The sheer number being harder to break through rather than the fact it was steel. "And why do these chains look… burnt?"

She fought back her tears and tried to speak. "The-these two men, they just walked into the square and killed the blacksmith, when the our guards came, they didn't stand a chance. One of them started to cut off heads and the other was able to break bones with a single punch." She gagged. "It was the worst thing I saw, so much blood… so much."

Having sheathed his sword and started to pull the chains apart with sheer mutated strength, Tatsumi tried to console her. "It's fine, I'm gonna get you out of here, you're not going to die."

Nodding she continued. "After that, they started to round everyone and stick them to things like this." She kicked at the kindle footing. "They lit them on fire, and when it was done, they grabbed someone to pick up the chain. The smell of melting flesh is still…" This time she couldn't stop herself from throwing up.

The chains slacked as they fell off her body. Without hesitation, she turned and jumped to hug the man.

Feeling her clothes against his, the oil started to seep into his coat. Attempting to put his arms around her back, he stopped short as he saw her legs bleeding.

"When did this happen?"

Looking up from his chest with teary green eyes, she winced as she put pressure on her legs.

"When the two came, I tried to run, but the one with black hair, his sword shot something and it cut into the back of my thighs. It didn't go deep, but it hurts to much for me to run."

"Don't be like that, it was only a love tap." A voice called out.

She completely froze.

Seeing the lanky man, Tatsumi clenched his jaw. "Stay out of trouble, I'll deal with this guy."

She took two steps before she was yanked back, a crescent of energy cutting through where she just was.

"No, she's staying right here, with you."

Knowing that he couldn't protect her and deal with this pyromaniac at the same time, he needed to do something… less than ideal.

The girl squealed as she was picked up bridal style. "Make yourself as small as you can." The smaller she was, the less likely she'd get hit during this.

Enshin wasn't quite ready for a man to run into a fight against him with a girl in his arms, but he processed it quick enough to slash at the madman.

Jumping into the air, Tatsumi spun to meet the blade with his sheathed one on his back.

The move made no sense to Enshin, but it caught him off guard enough that when his hit made the man spin the other direction, Tatsumi managed to kick him through a house.

Running was a higher priority than taking out these two guys, even if they did possibly have teigu if the civilian's story was true, he could come back after this girl was safe and sound.

Tatsumi quickly jumped to the side as a flickering crescent came his way and disappeared quickly after passing him.

"You're not getting out of this that easy, I'm gonna enjoy kicking the crap outta ya." The side Tatsumi kicked was cut at the temple while he mostly seemed to just be covered in dust and dirt.

Knowing he couldn't keep his powers secret with a bystander literally in his hands, Tatsumi kept running through the streets trying to lose his tail.

The man seemed to be faster than Tatsumi's default state as he slowly started to gain on him.

Tatsumi slowed down and let the man start to get even closer. Then, on a dime, he spun and ran to the shirtless man.

Enshin didn't get why this happened, but he slashed with Shamshir.

Once more the guy vanished as he climbed up Enshin's arm and used his face as a springboard to reach the roofs, nearly causing the scimitar wielder to bite off his own tongue.

"Fine, I'll call it in." He swung his sword to the air as the light blast reached further than it did five minutes ago.

Syura instantly teleported to his nearest tether to the signal. "You find him?"

Enshin just pointed to roofs. "Went up."

Growling at his team-mate's incompetence, he ran up and jumped against the wall to reach the top.

FIve roofs away, heading to the treetops, right next to one of his waypoints.

In a flash of light, he appeared in front of Tatsumi, ready to give a savage kick.

Without thinking, the hybrid spun to have the kick impact his shoulder blade. If he tried to just jump back, then the girl would have been hit with it. Judging from his bone splintering, she'd never had survived it.

'Great, both of them have teigu, and one is the guy who teleported me and the girls.' Jumping to the next rooftop, a white light came at him that cut his foot. Destroying his footing and causing the ceiling to collapse. Sending him crashing into a dining room.

Tatsumi cussed as glass and splinters dug into his back. With this girl, he couldn't fight, but she'd be dead if he let her go.

Taking a deep breath Tatsumi saw that the girl was starting to breakdown again.

"Calm down, we're gonna make it out of here."

She sat up and was now straddling him. "You said that before, now look at us!"

He had to move his leg to keep the gyaru from cracking it when he tried to use it to soften his landing.

Kicking out his legs, Tatsumi scrambled back and pushed the girl against him. "Just keep your head down and hold on as tight as you can."

She would have shouted about the hand on her butt if he didn't jump out the nearby window and used his handhold to keep her from falling.

The other hand went to her upper back as he tried to keep her head in his shoulder.

 **XxXx**

With the sun finally having set, Enshin knew he could have his fun.

The moon sometimes came out during the day, sure, but Samshir wouldn't be near full power without the clear night sky. The sun overloaded it or something, according to Dorothea.

Eh, he didn't care about the science behind his power. All that mattered was he could now get back at the kid for nearly making him bite off his fucking tongue.

'Slong as he kept the douchebag's tongue for Dorothea to reattach, the shit stain could be in good enough condition to keep Esdeath from murdering them outright.

With the moon being a waxing gibbous, he could perform long ranged focused attacks, great for a target that wants to run away.

Syura had teleported him onto the town hall's bell tower, the highest structure in the area.

He giggled before starting to unleash his waves of energy.

 **XxXx**

The crescent attacks came from the center of town, so that's where Tatsumi had to go too.

Diving through houses to help obscure him from sight helped with one fighter, but the other one coming from nowhere and attacking before retreating was infuriating.

But the next sneak attack, Syura was in for a surprise. A lockjaw on his arm.

Screaming his head off didn't really change anything as sharp fangs were digging into his fist. Enshin did shoot into the home, but the blasts were shrugged off.

With his back being bombarded by energy, Tatsumi's coat and shirt had long been shredded, leaving his back exposed.

'Scales, what the fuck is going on!?" Syura had even more proof as he kept punching the brunette's face to make him stop biting his arm, the boy didn't flinch. In fact, Syura was the one who suffered more as the bumpkin's face grew hard before small spikes came out and broke his skin.

'Why am I slowing down?' Each punch he swung had less and less force until he couldn't move at all, his legs had caved in and he only fell to the ground when Tatsumi let go of his arm.

Running to deal with the "sniper", Mine would shout his head off if she heard him give this guy that title, Tatsumi left the teleporter on the floor, paralysed with toxins he injected into the man. Just like what he did with Esdeath on their first meeting.

"You still okay?" Tatsumi was able to take a breather while the man in the tower was trying to find him. "You didn't get hurt, right?"

"N-no, I think i'm fine." She patted herself to see if she could feel any new wounds. "But how are you not hurt? You were being pelted by those slashes with the other punching you in the face." When she looked at his face, she flinched. Syura's blood left a trail on Tatsumi's face, making the kind man look far more threatening.

"... I can't say why, but with the teleporting guy down, I can put you down and deal with the other one." He tried to put her down, but she wouldn't let go.

"NO!" She stiffened as she hoped she didn't give away their position. Waiting for a few seconds in baited breathe, she spoke again. "Don't leave me, please."

Grimacing, Tatsumi tried to figure out a way to make the girl stop without making her freak out. But she just shook her head and buried her face in his chest while locking her arms around him. When she tried to wrap her legs around him too, he relented to Tyrant.

"Stop, I don't want to do this, but I will knock you out to keep you from hurting yourself." He felt his other eye change beneath Balzac, Tyrant was getting irritated.

Looking like she would burst into tears, the dark haired girl let go and was trembling as he put her down. "I'll come back for you after that guy gets taken out okay? Just wait here and stay calm."

Seeing her nod at his words, he left her with a smiling face. The second he turned the corner, he turned invisible to better stealthily climb the tower and deal with the teigu user.

…

With her 'savior' turning the corner, the girl waited for a little more time to pass before she stood up and started to walk.

'Goddamnit Syura, what the hell is going on?' She couldn't help but grimace at smell of oil on her clothes.

'I went along with that stupid damsel-in-distress look, I dyed my hair in case Esdeath's soldiers sent her descriptions about us, I fucking put myself in a pyre and tried to act as mental and physical stress to handicap him. How the fuck isn't he captured, scratch that; HOW THE FUCK IS HE EVEN ALIVE?!' She had to keep her rage inside since she had no idea what else this guy could do. She'd rather not find him to have super hearing too.

Reaching the destroyed house, she found her boss on the floor with blood oozing from his arm.

Pulling a burgundy vial from her pocket, she popped the cork and poured it on his gash.

"The bleeding should stop soon, so;" Her accent was gone. Grabbing Shambhala from the floor a few feet away and put it in his hands. "get fucking help."

Syura didn't say anything, he couldn't, but she could feel his anonymity.

Seeing him go, she moved back to where the monster wanted her. She made good time, when she sat back down, the tower fell apart with Enshin knocked out and Tatsumi no worse for wear.

Putting back her scared persona, Dorothea looked up to her 'hero'. "You were able to beat him?" The front of his shirt had been broken too, leaving him in rags with disconnected sleeves

"Yeah, it was no problem." Tatsumi took a deep breath as he held a slightly smug smile. 'Dealt with whatever the Minister had in mind for me, now I just need to get this girl to safety and come back to question these guys.' Despite being trained to kill, he knew the value of information gathering.

"Let's get going then. I'll drop you off in the nearest town, after that I need to deal with something else."

"I… I see. Oh, the other man could teleport, are you sure he didn't run away?" She wanted to goad him to nearing where reinforcements would come to better ambush him.

"It's fine, he can't move an inch for the next couple of hours, and his weapon was at the other side of the room when we left." He patted her head to ease her tension.

Dorothea had to keep herself from swatting his hand away. Continuing to be the hostage made her **fucking angry!**

"Can you take my with you to check? I don't think I can sleep if I know he could pop out at any moment." She felt like punching him in the face when he gave her that pitying smile of his.

"Sure." This time, he turned around to give her a piggyback ride.

When they finally arrived at the house, Dorothea was glad Tatsumi couldn't see her face, because her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh, looks like you were right."Tatsumi batted Shambhala out of the broken wall and across the street with a kick. "That could have been bad."

The vampire couldn't hear that, however, as she was screaming bloody murder in her head.

'NO, I CAN'T DO THIS, I WON'T DO THIS! I'VE HAD ENOUGH WITH THAT ICE MONSTROSITY, I WON'T LET MYSELF BE TAKEN BY THIS FUCKER TOO!' As her breath became unsteady, she bared her fangs.

"You okay back the-" Tatsumi had to stop as his body just started to shut down.

The alchemist sighed as she finished her hearty meal. "I had a numbing agent applied to my fangs, so powerful that you wouldn't even feel your face being carved into by a chimera." She stood up as her target fell onto the floor, unconscious from blood loss.

"I will admit, you were one of the best people I've tasted." She pulled a vial of clear liquid and poured it on her head, making the black color fall away from the yellow. "It was a little spicy, but it had a good kick when I drank two liters." She smacked her lips. "A nice cool aftertaste as well."

As she put a hand on her chin to think how to better describe the taste, her vision became red and blury.

"What the?" She rubbed her eyes and looked at her hands to see blood. As she was crying blood, it started to leak from her ears too.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?" Feeling something rise from her throat, she fell to her knees and began to vomit blood.

Gasping for air when she could, she didn't know how much time passed before she finally stopped.

Her vision continued to fade, before she finally lost consciousness in a pool of their blood.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **SEE, ICE GIRL (who will be named when something… special occurs) WASN'T THE ONE WHO BEAT TATSUMI, AND WILD HUNT DEFINITELY BIT OFF MORE THAN THEY COULD CHEW.**

 **Hope you agree with me on how Tatsumi was taken out. The girl he was protecting would be the only person he wouldn't be wary of. And I thought adding a physical and mental weight on him would help with capture, they just didn't know that it wouldn't do anything to him.**

 **Thanks for reading and sorry if things got a little confusing at times.**

 **Have an awesome day. -N.I.A.**


	34. Deal With The Dragon

**Something I want to address first, the poll on my account;**

 **1st place; 46 votes for Fire and Spirit**

 **2nd place; 41 votes for Dragon of Summer**

 **3rd place; 30 votes for A Bet's a Bet**

 **4th place; 21 votes for A Dragon's Fate**

 **Should I write a chapter for the first two stories, post them, and then do the poll again with only those two choices?**

 **I only ask since I want you guys to get a feel of the first chapter and see which you like more and the other 2 are roughly 20 votes away from even getting to first.**

 **Now onto the review response;**

 **MCRasengan:** What are you talking about sentient lollipop tree?

 **Wacko12:** Yes, Dorothea acted as the hostage to add mental and physical burden to Tatsumi. It just didn't work since, physically he could trip one of the ungodly huge humanoid Danger Beasts with one punch now, Mentally did affect him a small bit since he couldn't reveal his true power without a civilian finding out, but once she was unable to see, he lost his cool and dealt with those fuckers.

 **ChaosOmega8:** I don't get what you mean by making a human centipede out of them. I know the franchise, but not why you'd say that.

 **Guest:** … I totally didn't forget that… But seriously, don't worry, I planned this out when I first thought of Tatsumi's capture.

 **DBI(Guest):** Yeah, too keep up with the 10 day upload schedule, I usually don't have time to get a beta reader… But I realized something when I was writing my response to this; _**I COULD HAVE UPLOADED THEM AND JUST REUPLOAD WHEN THE BETA IS FINISHED.**_ So yeah, I feel stupid for not thinking about that, and thanks for making me think of it.

No one asides Es is going to use Extract… And that OC girl… And maybe someone else, but you need to ingest about a cup of Extract to get powers. Tatsumi took a drop and it tried to take control, Leone has backwash of it from when she drank his blood. Dorothy drank Tyrant more than Demon's, even then, she spewed it out five seconds later.

How did I do on that anyhow? I needed a way to get Esdeath to not be an obstacle, but I didn't want to kill her or make her OOC. That's why I said she went through 17 years of life through Tatsumi eyes; loving friends and family, birthdays, people being genuinely nice to one another. Being unable to do what she'd rather do in those instances, like killing the sick and elderly to help stave famine, train day in and day out to become the strongest possible. Tatsumi just… Lived his life.

 **Oh, remember, you guys voted and gave me permission to alter a character's past.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

Pain was the first thing felt, a throbbing head and a clammy mouth.

'It feels like I was biting my tongue when I was out too.' Feeling around the dark, it seemed like the void was restricting them, binding itself to their skin and not letting go.

"AH!" They fell deeper into the nothingness and… "Omph!" Right onto the floor.

Pushing themself free from the hold, the light came through and revealed the truth.

Blinking at the change in brightness, Dorothea whined as she woke to a new morning.

"Good god, I feel like complete shit, what happened?" Pulling herself free from the sheets, she found herself in a familiar place.

"This is my old room…" Feeling the sheets, it was the same from memory. The drapes, closest, carpet, dresser; everything was the exact same.

'This place was burned to the ground, I burnt it to ash myself. Just what the hell is going on?' Feeling through her many hidden pockets, she found no containers for her creations, be them edible or not. It took her a second to even realize that she was wearing her normal outfit, not her hostage garb.

"I'm gonna castrate who ever changed my clothes." She was seething at the thought that someone saw her naked.

Opening the door to the hallway, she found nothing outside what was there the last time. A rug on the floor, the other door with the same grooves and material. Everything was exactly replicated.

"This has to be a Teigu, nothing else holds a rational explanation." She kept muttering to herself the falsehood of this building as she knew nothing here to be true.

Going out the hall and into the room that was the conglomeration of a kitchen, living room, and dining room, she immediately flipped the table over and moved another rug out of the way.

Opening the secret hatch, she descended into the cellar.

Trailing her fingers against the wall in the dark, her hands fell and she felt the special stone that was always left precisely on this table.

Picking it up, she walked forward four more steps and dropped the chunk. It plopped into a liquid and started fizzing. Five steps, she turned and sat down on the chair she could not see.

Two seconds later and the glass container she had dropped her stone in glowed bright white.

"To the 'T', everything here is the same. Same timing, same steps, same placement." Pulling out a book from a shelf, she flipped by the pages. She did it again with another one, and another one, all the way until all the literary works were thrown on the floor. "Even every word in every book."

Opening a draw and putting a pair of surgical gloves, she went to the center of the room and put her hands in the glowing substance.

Pulling them out, she pursed her lips. 'Same gelatinous feeling.' She shook her hands. 'Same result.' Her gloves glowed just as bright as the material.

Turning around, she walked to a door with a combination lock on it. Turning the dial to her top secret code (Month of creation and the day she killed her first human), the lock clicked as it opened up.

Raising her hands for light, she saw cages lining the walls. No experiments were left inside. "No, if this is right before the fire, then it should be in the furthest one."

Walking all the way to the last cage, the smallest and strongest one she had here, it was noticeably empty. No hint of life was visible.

She fought her urge to turn around and look through the rest of this place. "No, you're not empty." She felt a stinging sensation in her head. It was like she was learning something that she wasn't supposed to. "Stop messing with my head and show yourself."

" **... Huh, people never mentally train themselves nowaday."** A suit of armor was sitting cross-legged on the floor, not looking up at her. " **Back around two hundred years ago, I think, was the last guy who trained his mind against mental threats instead of just keeping cool in battle."** The suit chuckled, remembering Bulat stabbing himself to snap out of Scream's effect.

"Just what are you?" The armor wasn't one she had seen before. The design was certainly one you'd find in the Capital, but no one wore something this flamboyant, at least as far as she knew.

The armor's chest expanded, seemingly taking a breath to explain before he was cut of by the vampire.

"Let's see, armor, invisibility…" She tapped her head, searching through the museum that was her mind. "Demon Armor: Incursio, that'd explain how you seemed to pop in, but why are you in a cell, more importantly;" She bent down and used her fingertips to turn the helmet to look at her. " _Why the fuck are we here?"_ Her eyes held unfathomable anger as she grit her teeth and bared her fangs. "This place doesn't exist, I made sure of that."

The armor didn't seem to have any fear at her rage. If anything, the monster was happy that someone had the gall to try and scare him. "We are here, because you brought us." She dove deeper and grabbed his throat.

"Start talking sense." Her nails dug into Tyrant's neck.

" **You don't get it? Ugh, and I just complimented you on mental fortitude."** The glowing eyes rolled, unperturbed by the death hold. " **We aren't really hear, this is just where you last had your moment of true happiness, so your mind gravitated to this stage. As you needed some place of comfort after what you went through."**

"What exactly did I go through?" She let go of his neck out of courtesy, not wholly believing his words completely, but Teigu could do anything. "I've skinned men alive, heard the most majestic of animals squeal in torment as I experimented on them, and vice versa, so tell me what could make me into such a mess that I was sent back here." She sneered as her eyes drifted over the cells, when she reached Tyrant's her breath was uneven and her fists were shaking.

He just seemed bored at this. " **I can tell you, or you can see for yourself."** His door swung open on its own. " **Walk in and remember."**

It wasn't smart to trust your enemy, but this man could have left his cell whenever he chose. The suit of armor granted an immense increase in one's physical strength, these bars would be wet paper to him.

Hating that it was her only choice, she walked through.

 **XxXx**

The room gave way to a bloody night sky as she relived her experience.

She found herself gasping, lying in pool of bloody mud. It took all of her will to move herself from that disgusting puddle. It seemed like hours, but she managed to drag herself away from the gunk and prop herself up with some rubble.

Looking around, everything had a red tint, but her mind was still able to put together what had happened.

"We fought." She clenched her eyes shut as it hurt to think. "No, that's not it." Her brain felt like it was trying to crawl out of her head. "We were decimated."

" **Oh you don't need to be that sad about it, none of you died, so you can come back for another go. I do hope that you provide a funner time though."** The voice went deeper into her mind than the pain. She felt her entire body quiver, rejecting the voice within. Bile started to rise from the back of her throat before something poked her neck, ceasing the urge to vomit.

" **I just saw you gorge yourself and spew it all out, i'd rather not see more of your lunch, like that girl you stripped and burned for those clothes."**

It hurt to move her head, but she went through the pain to see what fresh hell had come upon her.

The armored man, his voice gave that away, sat next to her in a seemingly bored manner. His fingers were locked behind his head and one of his legs was on top of the other.

He seemed to do nothing as Dorothea fell into a spiral of despair.

'This is the Hundred-Man Slayer; Bulat.' Night Raid was the last known to have possession of this Teigu. And they had come… thinking about it, it made complete sense. Tatsumi was the lover of the Strongest General, they were here to kill him and lure Esdeath into a trap, or break him and turn him into their mole.

'It's funny,' She didn't notice tears going down her face. 'We did all this to prevent our deaths, all we did was have them happen sooner'

" **Don't be so macabre, I'm not here to kill you, well, I can, but I don't want to kill the dumbass too."** He walked over and kicked the boy, instead of a metal boot goring him, the shoe fazed right through him.

From the corner of his eye he saw her eyes widen, the fact he could feel her shock and fear rise as well were the actual contributor's, either way, he turned back to face the vampire.

" **Right, so I guess this is a lesson for you; wrap it before you- no that's sex."** He put a hand on his chin as he tried to think of a phrase. " **Don't think many sayings exist for drinking someone's blood. How about; You're in for a fright, if when you bite, their inside's aren't right."** He placed a hand on his chest pad. " **I'd be what isn't right, pleasure to meet you… well, that's a complete lie. I honestly think you're the first person i've come to hate in a long while."** The armor sighed. " **And as much as I'd love to completely and utterly disembowel you, I cannot. Both because I physically cannot and because you are safe from me having your blood cells attack all of your organs at once solely do to a counter measure I myself input."** A beastly snarl escaped his mask as he clenched his fist, furious at himself.

" **I was always the one who felt the pain from each chink, each slash that didn't make it through my skin still left it's mark!"** It had a shuddering exhale. Trying to calm itself down. " **Then this idiot came along."** His tone became softer as he looked to the unconscious brunette. " **He 'oohed' and 'awwed' me like a baby at something new and shiny… but when it came to the wire, he was ready to sacrifice himself to his cause, to his friends… no, they were starting to become his family.**

" **Now I didn't particularly like being shredded and my DNA merging with this random child, but through grit, determination, and a fuckton of luck, he didn't die. Many veterans would have gone into cardiac arrest from the pain, but Balzac kept his heart as strong as my own was. In fact, his new one is the same structure as my old one."** He shook his head to clear it.

" **I was always the one doing the heavy lifting, only feeling alive once more at points where I evolved. Almost always that emotion was grief or anguish at the death of a comrade… with him, I felt joy, embarrassment, love… these emotions, it's all just your body changing the output of certain chemicals in your body. As an alchemist, you already know this, studying to merge science and 'magic' is what you do, but you never know how glorious it is to feel after being left barren of such a simple concept for a millenia.**

" **If I were to describe it; I was someone who was so hungry that my stomach had eaten itself, and the first food and drink I consumed tasted like the nectar and ambrosia that the gods of old were said to dine on."** He took deep and shaking breaths.

" **Now the nectar has turned to piss, the ambrosia into a rotting carcase. All because of the intervention of one person, some greedy, self-centered speck who had more of a chance never being born than even meeting with us in the first place!"** His eyes changed from glowing gold to red.

" **While your body cannot die, I WILL NOT SPARE YOUR MIND!"** He grabbed his helmet and tore his head off.

Gray ooze was bursting from the neck hole and started to take form above.

Anything in dozens of miles should have been overturned or outright destroyed as a colossal Super Class Danger Beast fell from the sky. But not even a speck of dust was moved.

If anyone were to see Dorothea now, they would think she was in need of medical assistance. Her face seemed to have lost all blood, her body was covered in a freezing cold sweat, and if they had a good eye, they could see that she had blacked out, her brain choosing to not function.

That was until Tyrant altered her body chemistry and caused her to come out of shock.

 **XxXx**

Her foot made contact with the floor as she took her step into the cell.

Her pupils shrank, knees buckled, and heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

Why was she alive, he had said she would lose her mind, but here she was. In a mental illusion, directly in front of the beast who promised her end.

She didn't speak, she couldn't, it felt like if she asked about her continued existence that this monster would pull her spine out through her stomach.

" **Take one more."** He didn't seem any different than he was when she saw him sitting here, but she just couldn't understand why he let her live this long. " **One more step, finish the memory and see why I have been so hospitable towards you."**

Dorothea felt as though she had no way out; it was a conundrum. He could just be waiting for her to be at her absolute lowest and kill her then, and if she ran then he could kill her, maybe even forcing her memory to play back again and again.

" **That memory is one that you want to repress, it's the reason i'm in this cell, alongside your other scars you wish so badly to keep hidden, I cannot make you witness this without potentially destroying your psyche . Since you made a deal for your life, I need your mind and emotions both in peak condition."**

A deal? Just what did she do? What insane bargain did she promise in exchange for her life?

Fighting back the tears and queasiness, she took the next step to see what was laying in store for her.

 **XxXx**

"I CAN FIX THIS!" Her voice was louder than ever before. "I CAN MAKE A PHILOSOPHER'S STONE!"

She couldn't breathe with the towering dragon stopping _just_ before making contact. His red crossed eyes stared at her unblinking, one being able to be just as big as she was. With four seemingly trying to suffocate her with their gaze, she couldn't find any words to say.

Seeing how she was completely frozen with him in his original state, Tyrant snorted and started to compress himself back down to his armor state.

" **A philosopher's stone is something that can turn anything into anything, it matters not the size, or qualities of the object. A stick can become a sword, an unhabitable land can become a paradise, a lump of clay into life… at least that's what it's supposedly capable of. Back when all the Teigu were made, the Emperor attempted to make the Philosopher's Stone to further enhance the Teigu he created, as well as become a Teigu itself, but he failed, and so did the Emperor who created Shingu in his attempts to recreate the Teigu.**

" **So tell me how a little gnat like you could even think they could create something that the most brilliant minds of the most brilliant era couldn't even complete?"**

With the armor inches from her face, Dorothea could feel the anger radiating off of it. Steeling herself, she spoke. "'Complete', that's the operative word. Those scientists and engineers created something, and that something was an incomplete Stone.

"My great ancestor was part of that 'most brilliant era' they documented how they created a stone and passed it down their line. How it was only able to successfully turn a single fleck of coal into diamond, afterwhich, the user of the stone died as their lifeforce was drained away. They tried creating the stone five more times before they gave up, each one made with different materials and molded in different ways. The new stones having better luck in differing fields, but none reaching perfection." The vampire started to gain confidence in the face of adversity. This is what she knew, this is where she thrived.

"In place of taking the user's life during the era of the Shingu, the stone shattered after it changed an entire copper mine into a gold mine, the man lost the ability to walk, but the power of the stone had become stronger than before. However, due to the fact that it was only able to be used once, it was dubbed a failure as the gold it produced was of extremely low quality.

"Throughout these thousand years of failed attempts, I think I have finally found the way to create the true Stone. When I get that, I can completely remake my body and leave out all of him when I do." She knew that the creature had no reason to let her live since she could be dealt with much quicker his way than her's. "And I could make you one as well." So she decided to sweeten the deal.

Tyrant was actually surprised at that. The chance to have his own body, to experience a new life in flesh.

"You were talking about how it felt to be able to witness emotions, positive ones. Well, if I make you a body, you can feel all of that again, the rush of a hunt, the feeling of wonder at incredible sights you never dreamt about. You can live a life without being chained to that Bumpkin."

He pulled her up by the throat in a death grip after those words.

" **I've grown fond of this young man, I won't let anyone bad mouth him… asides those that he finds amusing."** He dropped her and let her gasp for air. " **And a body matters not to me, all of my kind have died aeons ago, I have nowhere else to go, to find joy amongst, to find love like he has… I'm just an old man waiting to finally die. While I enjoy the road there, I'm not gonna let someone take me out before my heart finally stops."**

Seeing as that gambit didn't work, she needed to bank on another one. "If you kill me, even if it's just my mind, how would Tatsumi take it? He, ugh, someone like him can kill, sure, but could they leave someone brain dead and in need of care for the rest of their life? It's one thing to kill, it's another to mutilate. You're in my head or something right? Look around, you're gonna find that I can make a Stone and take every trace of him outside of my body in the same instant. I'll need a year, but I can make that, and you know what, I'll be his agent or something.

"He wakes up before the rest of us, you can tell him that I'll feed him whatever he wants to know. I'll help him with whatever he wants, hell, I'll even let him fuck me in the middle of a market if he wants." She was grasping at straws as she reached the end of her rope.

The armor only scoffed. " **Someone like him isn't persuaded by sex. If anything he might even be turned off by it if I compare him to prior masters.**

" **He's one whose love is what drives him. Love for a cause, love for the people, love for justice, and love for his mates."**

"But he's Esdeath's plaything, she's the most sadistic person in existence. You make Tatsumi sound like he's going to help the people by helping her."

" **... I'll let him tell you the full story when you two truly meet. For now, I will see if your words hold truth."** He grabbed her head and disappeared.

Dorothea fell unconscious, red crosses taking the place of her green ones under her closed lids.

 **XxXx**

The second step was made and she understood the situation she put herself in for survival.

" **I found that you can in fact make a stone in a year. It won't be easy and every component will need to be acquired through most likely illegal means."**

She just gave him an empty laugh. "Why do you think I joined up with Syura? In Wild Hunt, I can drink my full and take anything I want. It'd be insanely more difficult to get anything for it."

She fell quiet, wallowing in her self pity for a bit before speaking again, "How long have we been in here?" She tapped her knuckles against the bars.

" **An hour or so, no one has woken up or come near us. All we can do now, is wait."**

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Holy shit i'm cutting this close, 11 PM is when I'm posting this. I wrote about 4,000 words today … I REALLY have to write more spread out so I don't cut it so close.**

 **I hope you like what I did in this chapter, I gave Tyrant a bit more humanity here since he's been seeing the world through the eyes of someone pure and kind hearted like Tatsumi.**

 **Sorry if you didn't like how I portrayed Dorothea, but in the manga she was bawling before she died and tried to barter for her life.**

 **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING ME ALTER HER PAST! I never could have done this with her original character. And apologize if the Stone seemed a bit like a Deus ex Machina or a McGuffin, but I like her being an alchemist and trying to completely perfect her craft as what she's after instead of eternal youth through Absordex.**

 **I do want to delve into her past later in the story as well, as she is making the stone and not hating Tatsumi with a passion as he turns out to not be a complete ass, unlike everyone she's around.**

 **I hope you keep reading this story and that I haven't put you off.**

 **Have an awesome time. -N.I.A.**


	35. Cause and Effect

**CO8:** I said last chapter that I wanted to talk more about her past, but when she feels ready to open up about it.

 **KAW:** Thank you.

 **Jimjab:** Thanks.

 **Hm, so absolutely no response to my question of my poll? C'mon guys, i wanna know if you think it's a good idea or not. Should I post the first chapter for the top 2 stories and then restart a poll with those 2 suggestions alone?**

 **XxXxXxXx**

They were asleep in bed when it happened.

The feeling was strange to describe; intense nothingness would do it justice.

Whenever and wherever, they could always feel him . But in the dark of the night, it disappeared in an instant.

They couldn't process it, so they lashed out.

Esdeath pulled Leone closer as the room began to frost over. Her hyperventilation being prevented as she breathed in the smell of the wild alcoholic.

Leone had her body transform, as a safety precaution Lionel was on at all times inside the lavish church Boric had made. The neko was clawing at the sheets and breaking through the mattress. But when she was pulled into Esdeath's grip, she stopped her slashes and pulled her closer.

Both basked in the other to keep themselves from lashing out and destroying everything near them as they suffered night terrors from their lover's disappearance.

The Jaegers were spread throughout the fortress, yet they could feel the suffocating aura of despair emanating from their General. While all met up in front of the door, none could bring themselves to turn the knob. Esdeath could decapitate one of them instantly, so while they wanted to help her, she would most likely kill them before they took three steps into the room.

They decided that it'd be best to keep everyone away from her as they took turns to guard the door. More to protect others than the sleeping women.

Those who weren't currently at the door, either went to their own rooms, or to continue the plan.

Kurome was in the cellar in an empty square at the back, putting her puppets to use.

'I never thought that Kaiser Frog's acid could be used to help dig.' The giant toad was currently drooling over the corner and making quick work of the thick stone. After the stone turned into slurry and the liquid seeped into the dirt, the job was handed off to Wave.

With the acid doing a lot of heavy lifting, Wave only needed to use Grand Chariot to dig the hole closer to the catacomb. Natala and Doya kept watch under the guise of patrol for any suspicious characters within the halls.

Most saw their glares and went the other way, or skirted by and entered a door on the other side, so the two were left undisturbed.

"So, any idea why the General and…" Wave blushed at the thought.

"Her girlfriend."

"Yes, why they seem to be freaking out?" Wave needed to dig around a large rock since breaking it could cause to much noise.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She popped cookie from her bag before she took out an identical blue bag and munched on those. Over the last few months, since her reconciliation with her sister, Kurome started attempting to lower her dosage, eating less and less of her laced sweets and choosing to have other sweets by the dozen. Her newest bag consisted of little fishes that Wave bought, he said he tried to make some for her, but Ran said each batch had actual fish parts in them.

While her wane of the drugs only barely extended her life and equated to around three less injections, Kurome could still feel the side effects of withdrawal. Luckily for her this assignment didn't take much out of her, summoning only three puppets made her feel sluggish at times, but that latest doping helped her feel aware and energized.

Wave felt awkward. He tried to make small talk countless times over the months the Jaegers were together, but she never really got into his topics. It was nice to see her open up a bit more during their trip over here, after dinner and when they were gathered around the fireplace, stories would be told about their time before the unit.

He would say tales of the sea and how the crew nearly got scurvy after a storm knocked them of course for their resupply by a few days. Ran spoke of how he was once a teacher, it made sense on how he got everyone to act together, he did it for a living… 'Wait, does that mean that he saw us as a bunch of children?'

Seryu, when they could stop her from acting all mopey and bribed Koro to bring her close, would speak about perpetrators she dealt with while on the Force. She still found herself struggling to see if these men deserved to die, so she switched to stories about Koro after the second assailant's story was done.

Tatsumi spoke about his village and his friends, Sayo and Ieysau, the reasons he joined the Revolution in the first place.

It was horrible for such a thing to happen to anyone, but Tatsumi had steel in his eyes when he said he wouldn't let anything like that happen under the new government.

General Esdeath didn't share many stories, a few about hunting trips she went on when a horde of Danger Beasts attack settlements or she heard of something rare she wanted as a pet, but mostly she just leaned against her boyfriend. Eyes closed and smiling as she focused solely on him. But it wasn't like closing her eyes did anything, she still was able to throw daggers of ice with incredible precision towards the slightest rustle.

Trying to ask for everyone's' backstory to see how they ended up here was less than successful. Kurome just flat out ignored him, Ran always seemed to change the topic and make him forget his questions until hours later, and Seryu just sent Koro after him once and he learned to not ask.

Tatsumi told him that the General was just born and raised as a survivor and left it at that.

All in all, while he knew what their morals were and how they would act upon them throughout his months with the team. No one really knew each other well, it felt to him that they were more acquaintances instead of brothers(and sisters) in arms.

The wall he was methodically breaking away finally crumpled during his train of thought, and when the dust settled, they saw that there was now a link to the city's underground tunnels from the wine cellar.

"Nice work." The sailor girl poked her head down the tunnel. "Now we just need to inform the General to send the message." She pulled herself back up and looked to where the malevolent force came from. "I guess tomorrow night is the attack."

Wave pulled himself out of the hole and placed a wooden pallet over the hole. "You remember the line up?"

Kurome just looked at him blankly.

"... Can you please say it one last time, I'm really paranoid that i'll mess this up." The young man broke down before Kurome even blinked.

"Night Raid will enter in the dead of night, and as they split up to find Borick, he'll be waiting in that throne room of his. While you deal with Bulat, I have Akame, Seryu has Sheele, and Ran will be attacked outside by Mine who's protected by Chelsea.

Directly outside the room, Esdeath will be occupied by Najenda, Susanoo, and Lubbock. Esdeath will have place Leone in the room beforehand, so while the fight is going on, she can take out Borick and escape with the others afterwards."

Wave kept nodding.

"... you didn't get any of that did you?"

"Hey, I'm not an idiot." He pouted. "I just feel like something's gonna go wrong. I don't know why, it's just a gut feeling."

Kurome rubbed her chin. "Hm, be sure to keep your guard up. That way, nothing can surprise you and you can act against it without hurting yourself."

Wave just blinked a few times. "Wow… thanks Kurome, I just expected you to chew me out for being stupid or something." He thought about patting her head, but then realized that was for children, and despite Kurome's appearance, she would cut off his hand and think the act patronizing.

"I've been on more missions than i'd rather remember, it's always best to trust your instinct. Despite gathered intelligence, missions can still end up completely different by an unknown variable. When you can feel something not right, it's nearly always going to save your skin."

Wave thought about her words."... Wait, what about the time that isn't 'nearly always'?"

"Oh, then you're just going to look stupid by pouncing at every little thing, possibly revealing yourself and failing the mission."

"R-right." Wave just sighed and decided to keep his cool and stick to his training when the time came.

"It's not like anything can go wrong with the General here anyways."

 **XxXx**

"General, please calm down." Ran evaded icicles by flying sideways, Mastema couldn't be used to it's full potential inside, but he still could move around the restricted space with grace and speed.

Esdeath had ice clinging to her skin and wrapping around her arms and legs like armor. Shooting at Ran with no focus in her eyes, she seemed to strike blindly but with precision.

Unlike all the times he saw his leader practice or fight, this time she didn't release killing intent, she was just attacking seemingly because she could.

Down the other side of the hall, Seryu and Koro were dealing with Leone. Well, moreso that they were just keeping her pinned on the floor while she clawed, bit, and hissed while Koro's beefy arms tried to keep her in a chokehold.

"Leone, please calm down." Seryu was holding her arm as a trickle of blood fell down her head. When the aura had ceased and they tried to talk to the duo, Koro stepped in front of Seryu and took a punch that she didn't even know was coming. The dog was sent back into his master, pushing her into the wall and fracturing her forearm alongside a minor concusion.

She was lucky Koro stepped in, otherwise that fist would have torn through her and came out on the other side of her chest.

The lioness shot out of the room and began to maul on Hekatonkheires. The demon obliterated the wall besides the doorframe with a flurry of ice chips, only being countered with Ran's feather's.

The two seemed blind to their actions, their eyes devoid of consciousness and seemingly attacking with no feeling behind their motions.

"Seryu, what happened?" She turned to see Wave and Kurome running to her.

"I don't know, they just woke up and started attacking." Her eyes went back to Leone as the blonde's ferocity was finally waning after being in a teigu headlock for over three minutes. But if they stood too close, their legs would be clawed off. "Anyways, don't worry about me, help Ran."

The Angel was worse for wear, his scuffed clothes had a layer of frost that was seemingly trying to spread. It was only staved off as his God's Wings partially embraced his shoulders and arms. But keeping his Trump Card active for so long had the handsome man drenched in sweat.

Wave had armored up and jumped in front of his friend, the defensive cover on his back being held firmly up and tanking the blows.

From behind, Kurome ran past the men and towards Esdeath.

She deftly evaded the single shots, but had to think on her feet when a wide block was sent at her.

Releasing a bit of Yatsafusa's power, an Ape-Man's hand sprouted as a springboard. As the hand was crushed in her escape, another wave was sent at her in mid-air.

Natala sprung from the earth and shot out his spear. Without a second thought, Kurome grabbed it and was retracted to the floor.

Stumbling on the frosty floor, Kurome had to bat away spears before she could right herself.

One grazed her shoulder as the attacks started to become to fast for her. Luckily, she wasn't alone in this fight.

A burning cloud of feathers shot in front of her as Wave ran past the golden flames and to their leader.

Her normally sadistic smile was replaced with a void look.

Pulling back his arm for a punch, Wave found himself thrown over her shoulder onto the floor. Before he could get back up, she stomped his face so hard that the floor cracked. If he didn't Grand Chariot on, his head would be split in two instead of just discombobulated.

A tongue grabbed Esdeath's arm and was subsequently frozen and shattered. While Kaiser Frog lost its appendage, it bought time for Ran to tackle Esdeath away from Wave.

Kurome felt relief as she sent away her puppet and poised herself to attack with her sword.

Each slash was easily parried with a frozen sword. One riposte and Kurome found her stomach completely exposed and Esdeath capitalized on that best she could.

The ice blade shattered as Grand Chariot's defensive film was thrown between the cold and flesh.

Wave's knee to the Empire's Strongest's face was stopped by her bare hand and he was thrown into a wall. Backhanding Kurome away as she spun back to face the assassin.

Without even looking, she formed a thick wall to block all of Ran's projectiles and then shoved the structure towards the ex-teacher.

A white blob tackled the obstacle head on and turned into red paste.

"Ran!" Looking down he saw Seryu. "Leone is down, and I think I have an idea to deal with the General."

Koro formed back together and switched muscular arm for legs. His master said to block those hits from reaching her friends, so he would need to be fast to reach them in time.

The strangely shaped figure ran and kicked Esdeath who easily blocked it.

While she didn't receive damage, Esdeath was pushed through the wall, into the gardens.

The Extract user proceeded to destroy the dog over and over while Ran and Seryu helped Wave and Kurome get back up.

In the ten seconds it took to get to the gardens, Koro had taken enough damage to kill a normal person one hundred times over.

He was saved from another spear to his brain by Wave taking the General on in close quarter combat. Staying as small as possible and playing defensive, this kept him from instantly being thrown aside this time. Still, he's bones shook from each blow he took.

The ground shook as if an earthquake was occurring, but that just a side effect of Death Tagool's emergence.

Seeing as her attention was now on the Superclass monster, Wave punched her in the face.

His fist was grabbed and yanked closer before he knew it as he was pulled off his feet and kneed in the gut before being kicked away.

She formed a fist and ice seemed to take that shape above her, ready to smash the skeletal monster's head in.

This time she wasn't aware of Ran as he flew by her with a space of ten feet and without the intent to attack.

His cargo felt differently then him however.

Koro expanded faster than ever and grew bright red as he unleashed a yell so powerful that it shook all the leaves off the trees, point-blank at Esdeath's face.

No one seemed able to move.

Kurome was keeled over as Death Tagool collapsed back into the earth. Nearly passing out from the noise and strain.

Wave had lost his dinner to the floor as his disorientation mixed with such a blaring noise caused him to vomit.

Ran just stood flapping in the air, slowly descending as he clutched his head. The grip of the cold stopped and the frost fell off his body, finally letting him release God's Wings.

Seryu was the most unaffected, swallowing her fear as she walked to her still standing commander. She bent down to pick up the burnt out Koro before reaching out for her leader.

The ice spike missed her palm as she yanked it back.

Circling around, she saw the Empire's Strongest with her eyes rolled into her head, completely knocked out by Koro's scream, but still, even in her unconscious state, nothing could touch her.

The wind blew, pushing a pile of leaves to the blue haired warrior. Each individual greenery was stabbed and couldn't even make contact with her long flowing hair.

Seryu breathed a sigh of relief. One problem solved…

A convoy of town guards finally arrived after hearing the crash of a destroyed wall and the unholy scream.

...and another takes its place.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **I FAILED YOU ALL *deep loud sobbing that makes you feel sad as well* I wasn't able to post it before 12 AM, I did it at… 12:06 OH THE HUMANITY!**

 **Yeah, I did about 1000 words this time before doing the rest the night before updating, so it wasn't as hard. The only real problem was trying to find time to write. After I start typing, ideas start to flow and the chapter takes form.**

 **Before I sign off, i will say it again;**

 **Please leave a review or PM to say if I should make a new poll with the top 2 candidates of the current one, and write the first chapter of the top 2 so you can better choose?**

 **It'd be awesome if you answered my question, until the next time.**


	36. Chapter 36

**TJFW:** Yeah, i didn't feel much from that chapter.

 **Aw come on; one review? The last few chapters have gotten three to four, come on. I read these to see what you guys liked and criticism to see what I need to work on.**

 **Like this, I just reread the ending to the last chapter and saw a bunch of weirdly structured sentences and things that felt off, so I rewrote that part and reuploaded it. Please tell me when that happens I write a lot of this late at night when I should be asleep (insomnia seems to fuel me) so I am bound to make more mistakes.**

 ***Beep beep***

 **What's this? *New review on Awoken Dragon***

 **Guest:** Hinawa Ga Crush? I did not know that existed. But probably not.

 **Apologies for the delay, an explanation is at the bottom.**

 **XxXxXxXx**

Light bled through the curtains and caught on the dust in the air. Slowly fluttering down to the floor until a breath sent them away.

Brow scrunched and nose twitching, her waking was inevitable but it still wasn't welcomed.

With a sneeze her mind took the last step into consciousness as sleep was now firmly out of grasp.

Rubbing away the sand in her eyes, she pushed her chest forward to stretch her back when she stopped short and heard a clink.

Moving her hands, Leone could see her predicament. Cuffs were clasped around her wrists and ankles with another chain going around her waist.

Trying to not freak out, she saw Lionel at the other side of the room, also, where she actually was.

The room seemed like a normal prison cell, but the fact of lavish furniture on both sides of the bars confused her.

Feeling out for her partners, Tatsumi was a blip in the distance like he was after getting nearly a day away from them, though strangely she felt relief. As for Esdeath, she was close, stagnant, but close.

Since her other halves weren't in a position to save her, she just had to free herself from this weird place.

Testing the chains against her strength, she found herself barely able to pull the screws around. Even with Lionel and Tatsumi making her stronger than a normal human, she still pretty much had as much power that her pinky had when she transformed.

She huffed, she certainly could break free, but it'd only be time consuming. That's not even counting the chain against her waist.

Her ears twitched at footsteps, but identifying the pattern and weight of the steps calmed her down. It was someone she knew.

Opening the door, Wave was glad to see that one of the two finally woke up. He couldn't help but sigh, finally they could try to find answers.

"Wave, what's going on? Why am I in the cell?" And there went his hopes.

"What are you talking about? You and Esdeath broke and fractured both walls and bones." He drifted a hand towards his gut.

"What? The last thing that happened was that the two of us went to bed and then I'm just here." She yanked her chain.

"Leone, you attacked Seryu, if Koro didn't take the brunt you'd have killed her. Esdeath nearly froze Ran. I got a concussion and Kurome lost parts of her puppets. None of this is ringing a bell?"

Leone tried to think, but nothing he said brought back memories.

"Look, I got nothing, but can you tell me about this?" She held up her cuffs.

Wave's eyes went around the room. He really wished that Ran was here instead of him.

"The guards came by right after Esdeath stopped, Ran was smart enough to come up with an excuse right away…"

"But?"

"To explain why Esdeath was fighting us and why no one could get close to her without dieing, Ran said that a Revolutionary broke in and his teigu made Esdeath see all of us as him. So Borick ordered every guard to find how they broke in, around five hours later they found the hole leading to the catacombs.

"A couple guards were sent to explore and say where they went, but luckily since they go all over town it wasn't possible to track back to Night Raid.

"Because he couldn't find anything though, Borick ordered the cellar to be barricaded and the sealing of the catacombs; "out of respect for the spirits that still reside there" was what he told the people at the mass. They ate up everything he said."

Leone took a deep breath and swore, everything finally fell into place, and in one night, they were back to square one.

"Wait, he held a mass? How did he do all this overnight? And you still haven't told me why I'm in this bizarre cell "

"Um, I'm not sure how to say this but, Leone, you've been knocked out for the past two days."

Leone just looked dumbfounded. Had she been in this cell all that time? Had Night Raid tried to contact her? Did something stop Esdeath from dragging her out of here by force?

"As to why you're chained up, all… entertainers were rounded up in the palace and put in cells. Borick thinks that some may have helped create the hole from the inside, instead of just keeping them from entering the church, he still wants them around for himself and his guests. You were put here since Ran convinced them that you were Esdeath's and if anyone touched you, they wouldn't live to talk about it.

"The guards are also being swapped and sent to different areas at random until he can make sure he's found the traitor. Killing everyone would leave him to vulnerable and I doubt he could explain their massacre to his followers. Plus, with a room to yourself, we were able to take shifts to make sure no one stepped foot in here unless it was to give you some food."

Leone was silent for a bit as she processed. "And Es, why is she so… silent?" That was the only way she could describe it. Physically, Esdeath was there, but she was unmoving and unfeeling.

"Ever since you two went crazy she hasn't moved and can't be moved. If anything comes near her it'll be stabbed to death."

"Get me out of this thing." Leone struggled against the chains, she needed to get out there and help Esdeath. Both of them went crazy at the same time, so maybe the Snow Queen would wake up soon like she did.

"Right, sorry about the chains." Wave opened a drawer and pulled out a false bottom. "We were scared that you'd freak out again and took Lionel away to see if that would help bring you back." Grabbing the hidden keys and then the Teigu, Wave opened the cell and handed Leone the belt before putting the key in a hole. As such, he couldn't try the second key on the ring as the chains were ripped off the walls and Leone was covered in fur.

"Right, well you deal with the General and I'll try to fix this." Noting the holes now in the wall. Maybe just moving a cupboard in here would work.

Not really listening to him, Leone saw that she changed into her second form. Trying to calm herself down so she could walk around looking like a normal person, after trying to dismissing the Teigu didn't work she found herself stuck as a Lion-Human.

Pulling a sheet off the small bed, Leone had something to cover her body though her eyes drifted to her ears atop her head.

Grabbing Wave's ascot (without permission), she tied it on her head and had herself a makeshift bandana.

Seeing as this getup was the best she could do (they figured to not bother bringing clothes that cover anything into a prostitute's room) Leone left to go see if Esdeath would wake up.

Her way there wasn't anything special, just her sprinting through the halls at breakneck speeds and stopping when she heard anyone coming her way. But when she found the giant hole in the wall, that sure saved her time from going around the entire building or trying to find a window to jump through.

The remnants of the garden were deserted as a frost developed over the grounds, killing many of the plants the lived in the warmer weather.

As she walked closer to the frozen General, Leone's breathe started to become more and more visible. Each step held a louder crunch as frozen leaves created a path. Stopping just out of arm's' reach, Leone could see everything happening to her lover.

The slightest expansions and contractions of her diaphragm. The sound of a slow but steady heartbeat. Leone snickered when she heard her girlfriend's stomach growl… until her own joined in.

"C'mon, after you wake up, why don't we go get some grub?" Leone offered a small smile before taking a single step forward.

Ice shot from Esdeath's feet and just as quickly stopped.

Just as it touched her skin, the ice stilled and Leone took another step. The same thing happened, pushing the spike against her left leg as she took her third step, the ice seemed to fold back into itself. Finally in front of Esdeath, Leone opened her "coat" and engulfed her Snow Pea in a hug, dozens of shards came out, but none managed to pierce the skin.

Silence was engulfing the entire garden until dripping was heard. Icicles on the trees had started to melt.

"Wakey-Wakey, let's go get us some Eggs and Bakey. I'll be sure to get some ketchup for you since it's red like the blood of your enemies." The sweet nothings continued as Leone just stood their with her heart on her sleeves.

Slowly, arms rose and pushed her closer. "Mm, you spoil me." Esdeath didn't really seem lucid.

"Let's go girl, we haven't eaten anything in two days. You might have trained your body for this, but I want some meat." Leone glanced at her furry arms. "Probably as rare as it can get."

"Sure thing." Esdeath had no idea what she just said.

 **XxXx**

After freeing her girlfriend from a mini coma, the two ate until they were stuffed as Leone discussed the lose of their original plan.

"That is a shame." Esdeath drank her third coffee as they spoke. "But you must expect that every plan will fail. While none of the others are as safe as the catacombs, it isn't the end of the world just yet."

"I guess you're right, but what I think sucks more is that you don't have a clue why we went crazy either." She stabbed a pancake with a claw and brought it to her mouth. "And why I still can't change back too."

"Well you'll need to stay hidden until you can revert, maybe you can stretch your legs to meet up with Night Raid when the sun goes down. We can get an update on what's happened on their front."

"Yeah, maybe they'll have some ideas about this." She started to smooth out the fur on her arms.

"Now, while you wait here, I need to speak with Borick. He'll most certainly question my previous state and how I awoke. Plus he'll probably have me deal with all the guards as well." She huffed. "At least I slept for two days, I don't think I'll be in our bed anytime soon."

Leone groaned, this'd be a long wait.

 **XxXxXxXx**

 **Apologies for how long it took to get this chapter out. I was having trouble figuring how to start it up, I actually scrapped the start and remade the chapter, and school is really fucking with me.**

 **Sorry for how short this was too, I just figured that since I hadn't updated in so long I owed you guys something.**

 **I also have a surprise(s) in the making, hopefully I'll finish quicker than I did this. At the very least i'll update once a month, but please leave a review and help inspire me to write sooner. Ever since AGK finished I've drawn will to write from other facets (RWBY volume 4 OST for this chapter and the project(s))**

 **Thanks for putting up with me. -N.I.A.**

 **PS: Anyone got an idea for this chapter's name?**


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